A federal judge in Maryland is weighing a lawsuit by 17 of the state's sheriffs who want to block a state law that sharply limits how local law enforcement can cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox heard arguments in the case last week and is preparing to rule, the Associated Press reported.
Source: Associated Press via SWOK News
The fight is over Maryland's Community Trust Act. In February 2026, Governor Wes Moore signed emergency legislation that banned state and local agencies from entering immigration enforcement agreements with federal authorities, ending the 287(g) program — under which local officers in eight Maryland counties were deputized to perform some federal immigration duties — and required the agreements to be terminated immediately.
The sheriffs, led by Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler and represented by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, sued Governor Moore, Attorney General Anthony Brown and the state in May 2026. They argue the law puts local officers in an impossible and unconstitutional position by restricting cooperation while federal law still governs immigration enforcement. “We should not be in a position with picking and choosing which federal law enforcement partners we work with,” Gahler said, in remarks reported by WHCP radio.
Source: WHCP
Supporters of the law answer that being in the United States without status is a civil violation, not a crime, and that if ICE wants a person held, it can go before a judge for a warrant instead of relying on an administrative detainer signed by an agent. Under the new law, local jails can no longer simply honor ICE detainer requests; a judicial warrant is required.
Both sides say they are ready to appeal if they lose, and Gahler has said the case could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. For Maryland's large immigrant communities — and for diaspora families watching how far local police can be drawn into federal immigration enforcement — the ruling will decide whether the state's limits stand.
Source: Baltimore Sun via Police1