Maryland advocates rally in support of bills aimed at immigration protection rights
Maryland immigration advocates rallied in front of the State House on Wednesday in support of a bill aimed at protecting the state's immigrant communities from President Donald Trump's policies.
The Maryland Data Privacy Act, one of three bills that the immigrant-rights group CASA listed in its legislative agenda this session, had its first committee hearing on Wednesday.
The legislation aims to make it so federal agents enforcing federal immigration law can't get sensitive and personal information from state databases unless they have a warrant from a state or federal judge.
State Sen. Clarence Lam, The bill's sponsor, said this is a follow-up bill he passed during Trump's first term in the White House.
The two other bills in CASA's legislative agenda -- the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act and the Maryland Values Act -- have their first committee hearings on Thursday.
Lam, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, and several CASA leaders and members rallied outside of the Maryland State House ahead of the bill's hearing with the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Wednesday.
Alex Vazquez, CASA's Director of Organizing, read an account of one of the group's members when private data was used by federal agents to find them.
"As I stood there in handcuffs, one of the agents casually admitted how they found me," Vazquez read. "They had used Maryland's [Motor Vehicle Administration's] database to track my location."
Protecting state data
Federal agents are now barred from accessing MVA data due to a bill Lam passed in 2021. But now he wants to expand that to all state databases.
Lam said this bill is even more important now because of the recent actions by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
A federal judge ruled against a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general that tried to block DOGE and Elon Musk from accessing data systems and making personnel decisions at various federal agencies.
"What we're incredibly concerned about is the federal government coming into our state and trying to access our state's information, where we have built a level of trust with our residents...that we want to continue," Lam said.
In her testimony supporting the bill, Lierman said immigrants, out of fear, may start avoiding giving their personal information to the state.
She adds that could lead to a reduction in tax revenue, among other impacts.
"In 2022 alone, [immigrants] contributed $5.3 billion in state and local taxes, and over $6 billion to social services programs like Social Security and Medicaid," Lierman said.
Clarity and safety concerns
During the committee hearing, State Sen. Chris West was one of several senators concerned that the bill doesn't lay out the parameters for federal agents to get a warrant.
Morningside Police Chief Daniel Franklin said he understood the bill's intention but is worried about unintended consequences that could lead to safety issues and loss of state-federal relationships.
"It would establish a practice of hindering the enforcement of federal immigration laws," Franklin said. "These laws have not changed, they've been in place for decades in numerous administrations."
