SB245 and SB 1, If Passed, Will Endanger ALL Maryland Citizens
From the Maryland Freedom Caucus:
This week in Annapolis, Maryland lawmakers are pushing two bills that would make our communities less safe and put law enforcement officers at greater risk.
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One bill (SB245) would ban cooperation between local jails and federal authorities to identify and remove violent criminal illegal immigrants—even when those individuals are already behind bars.
The other (SB1) would restrict law enforcement officers from covering their faces, exposing them and their families to harassment, intimidation, and doxxing by criminals and extremists. Different bills. Same result: more danger for Marylanders, and fewer tools for the people sworn to protect us.
What the First Bill Really Does: Supporters of Senate Bill 245 are careful about their language. They talk about “immigration enforcement agreements” and federal overreach.
Here’s what the bill actually does in plain English: It prohibits local jails from running background checks or serving warrants in jail that would allow violent offenders, gang members, and sex offenders who are in the country illegally to be deported instead of released back onto Maryland streets. These are not random traffic stops.
These are not neighborhood sweeps.This applies only to people already in custody—after an arrest—where law enforcement has a narrow, controlled opportunity to verify identity and criminal history.Ending this cooperation doesn’t make Maryland more compassionate; it makes Maryland less safe.
Maryland Voters Agree By Overwhelming Margins While the political establishment may attempt to frame this as a matter of contention, for Maryland voters, the issue is clear. A statewide poll of Maryland, commissioned by the Maryland Freedom Caucus, found:
84% support requiring local law enforcement to turn over illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes, gang activity, or sexual offenses to federal authorities
That includes:
82% of Democrats
90% of Black voters
88% of women.
Majorities in every region of the state.
Even more recently, our January 2026 poll found that a majority of Marylanders support giving local jails the authority to run ICE-linked background checks on detainees already in custody.
The message is clear: Marylanders want dangerous criminals removed, not recycled back into our communities.
The Second Bill Puts a Target on Law Enforcement. As if that weren’t enough, Senate Bill 1 goes even further. It would restrict when law enforcement officers at every level - local, state, or federal -are allowed to wear face coverings while on duty, dismissing “generalized fear” for officer safety as insufficient justification.
In today’s environment, that is reckless. Law enforcement officers are increasingly targeted online. Criminal networks and extremist groups routinely expose their personal information, including their names, home addresses, and details about their spouses and children.
Forcing officers to make themselves easily identifiable during dangerous operations does not increase accountability; it increases risk. Maryland lawmakers are effectively saying: “Your safety and your family’s safety come second to political theater.”
”Who Benefits From These Bills?
Not victims.
Not law-abiding Marylanders.
Not frontline officers.
The only people who benefit are: Violent criminals who want fewer consequences.
Gang members who rely on intimidation.
Politicians who want to score ideological points.
This Is Happening Thursday!
Both bills are scheduled for a hearing in the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on: Thursday, January 22 at 1:00 PM. Committee members need to hear—before that hearing—that Marylanders reject policies
Protect violent criminals over citizens.
Tie the hands of law enforcement
Ignore overwhelming public opinion
What You Can Do Right Now Call or email members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee TODAY.
Committees - Judicial Proceedings Committee
Tell them:
You oppose banning jail-based background checks for violent offenders.
You oppose policies that endanger law enforcement officers.
You expect Maryland law to reflect the will of the people—not radical ideology.
Respectful, direct pressure before the hearing matters more than anything said after.
Maryland does not have to choose between compassion and public safety.
But these bills choose danger—and it’s up to us to stop them.
For full polling with methodology:
EDITOR'S NOTE:
The Easton Gazette spoke to law enforcement about these bills. Here is what they told us:
The 287g program provides that everybody arrested regardless of race, sex, gender, etc. for a Maryland crime would have their information run through an ICE computer when they are in the detention center. Specially trained correction officers would then notify ICE of any who come up as having deportation detainers or orders. ICE would then come and pick them up.
It is a controlled environment which prevents collateral arrests and confrontation. For example, if ICE has to search for illegals on the streets and they go to a criminal illegal's home and arrest him, they can also check anyone else in that home for immigration status and those people could be arrested along with the person ICE was looking for.
In Minnesota where there is no cooperation, the violence is occurring and people are getting hurt and killed. It could all be avoided if Minnesota would allow 287g to work.
SB 1, which seems more like a progressive virtue signal, hurts police in many ways. For example, the bill would not allow ANY law enforcement, local, county, state or federal, to wear a mask or face covering while on duty. Police can wear protective gear in situations where there are chemical agents being used such as tear gas. While there are carve outs for undercover officers, masks worn for religious reasons or medical reasons, the language is vague and promotes rules that put police in danger. The bill never mentions wearing a face covering during inclement weather such as the cold spell this week.
Police have to stand out in the elements, sometimes for hours and expose themselves to weather extremes which could put them at risk of medical harm. This law puts those who protect us in harm's way. At the same time, there is no law preventing those who commit crimes, protest against police actions, or physically attack police from wearing a mask. They can hide their identities putting law enforcement at a disadvantage when it comes to finding and arrest those who are a danger to the community. It's a dangerous double standard.
It's bad enough that police agencies across Maryland have lost 10 - 20 percent of their force due to Maryland's anti-police, anti-law and order rules. Now Maryland is putting those who are still on the job and citizens who depend on them in danger as well.
Marylanders should take a look at states like California, Washington, and Minnesota to see what our communities will experience if the legislature continues to pass laws that protect criminals and target police. Make your opinions heard!
These laws would put us ALL in danger!
