Harford County sheriff urges Congress to take action against Maryland sanctuary law
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler testified before Congress Tuesday about Maryland's sanctuary policies, urging federal lawmakers to take action against laws that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
A House Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing on Capitol Hill examining sanctuary policies in Maryland, California and Colorado.
Gahler, who has been outspoken against laws restricting local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, urged lawmakers to intervene.
"The border crisis is no longer confined to Texas, Arizona, or New Mexico," Gahler said. "Every state is now a border state, and every sheriff in America is forced to deal with the deadly fallout."
Gahler is among 17 sheriffs suing the state over the Community Trust Act, a law that bars local police from holding suspects for ICE without a judicial warrant. The law also prohibits agencies from coordinating with ICE when a suspect is released from custody.
Gahler testified that the law requires his deputies to release suspects they believe could be dangerous. He pointed to the high-profile murders of two Harford County women as examples of what he described as the risks of the state's immigration policies.
Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was found dead off the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air on Aug. 6, 2023. After a 10-month nationwide manhunt, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, a native of El Salvador, was arrested in Oklahoma and extradited to Maryland to face murder charges.
Martinez-Hernandez was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and life for first-degree rape.
A year earlier, on July 27, 2022, 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton was found dead near her home in Aberdeen. Walter Javier Martinez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was sentenced to 70 years in prison.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's office responded to Gahler's testimony, saying in part, "We will always work with the federal administration when it comes to making our communities safer. We'll continue holding violent offenders accountable and protecting Marylanders' constitutional rights and basic dignity."