Maryland County To Become ‘Sanctuary City’ Ahead Of Trump Inauguration
A region just outside Baltimore, Maryland, is now looking to join hundreds of other counties and cities across the country with a ‘sanctuary city’ policy that protects criminal illegal immigrants from federal immigration law.
Howard County officials, comprised of mostly Democrats, say they want to ban county officials from inquiring about an individuals’ immigration status. The officials would also be barred from cooperating with federal immigration officials, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“The recent national political climate, increased incidents of hate speech and violence, and unfortunate statements made by our nation’s President-elect, has caused many in the Howard County community to fear for their personal safety and the loss of civil liberties,” Howard County City Council member Calvin Ball said.
The City Council, though, acknowledges that Howard County designating itself as a sanctuary city would not go far with President-Elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. The incoming President plans to focus heavily on banning a region from failing to comply with federal immigration laws.
Jessica Vaughan with the Center for Immigration Studies told the Baltimore Sun she didn’t understand the purpose of the sanctuary city classification for Howard County, as it’s largely based in a drummed-up fear about federal immigration officials.
“I’m at a loss to see how this would affect the real life practices of Howard County officials or force them to do anything they’re already doing,” said Vaughan. “This idea that immigration officers are suddenly going to be raiding elementary schools and so county officials need to enact these policies to protect people from this activity is just silly. It doesn’t happen that way and it never will. This is a solution in search of a problem.”
While Howard County looks to move forward with a sanctuary city policy, other counties are reversing course thanks to Trump’s hardline position that sanctuary cities will have no place in his America.
Suffolk County, New York, has officially announced that it will no longer designate itself as a sanctuary city. The move comes just ahead of Trump’s inauguration, as Breitbart Texas reported.
Sheriff Vincent DeMarco said his county will no longer demand a judge’s order before detaining an illegal immigrant wanted by federal immigration officials — a major shift away from its previous sanctuary city policy.
Trump is expected to take down sanctuary city jurisdictions, with incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions likely to set legal battles with locales that refuse to comply with federal immigration law.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.