Bills Centered Around Immigration, Deportation Pushing Buttons In Annapolis
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Frustration and fear surround bills in Annapolis that address the state's role in immigration policies.
Bills on the role of local law enforcement are pushing buttons in Annapolis.
The fear of arrest and deportation versus the fear of undocumented immigrants was addressed in a House committee hearing this week.
"As a member of the Remembrance Project, I've become far too familiar with how sanctuary cities have been proving fatal for Americans," one woman said at the hearing
A woman who became upset by testimony by witnesses characterizing immigrants as criminals was escorted out after an outburst in the Judiciary Committee hearing room.
The bill in play at the time, would require local law enforcement to aid immigration officials in the detention of undocumented immigrants.
"It's not the first time we've had this division around whose here and who isn't," said Montgomery County Delegate Ana Sol Guitierrez, who has a bill that relieves local law enforcement from the responsibility of helping immigration officers.
She says this immigration argument has been seen before.
"And I do teach a course on the history of immigration policy in the United States," Gutierrez said. "This has been a very emotional, very divisive issue. We're seeing it today. And unfortunately those divisions are going to be very hard to cure, to bring back together, to heal."
The Gutierrez bill is called the Safe Act, following state attorney general guidelines for immigrants to report crimes to the police without fear of being detained.
The bill passed the House last year, but died in the Senate.
Both bills await Committee votes.
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