Defending Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in Maryland

Winter 2025 issue of Free State Liberties, the newsletter by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland.

In the DMV, where daily life crosses jurisdictional boundaries, immigration enforcement functions as a regional force. Families in this region often live in one jurisdiction, work in another, and rely on schools and hospitals, and public services spread across both state and district borders. But your rights do NOT change when you cross these borders.

The ACLU of Maryland is dedicated to fighting for the rights of immigrants throughout the state of Maryland to ensure that our immigrant community is protected from police abuse, criminalizing the mere presence of immigrants of color, denying immigrants the opportunity and right to an education, and much more. Our country’s immigration laws define who our federal government allows into the United States, and guides how federal agencies enforce those laws at our national borders, ports of entry, and within the interior of the U.S. However, in order for federal immigration agencies to target the immigrant community and otherize their existence in this country, they rely on local and state agencies, primarily law enforcement agencies, to help them identify and begin the deportation process.

When police point guns at children, they don’t just risk physical harm – they inflict lifelong trauma. That’s why what happened to a 15-year-old Frederick County child.