The Community Trust Act Will Become Law — A Victory for Civil Rights and Safety for All Marylanders

After more than a decade of organizing, advocacy, and relentless action by impacted communities across Maryland, the Community Trust Act (SB 791) will finally become law.

This law will help improve public safety. When community members can interact with local police without fear of being turned over to federal immigration authorities, they are more likely to report crimes, cooperate with investigations, and engage with public officials. That makes all our communities safer. The Community Trust Act keeps local law enforcement focused on local public safety.

The Community Trust Act sets limits on how law enforcement can informally collaborate with ICE and protects innocent people, people convicted of minor offenses, and people awaiting trial, from notification and transfer to ICE without a court order and judicial warrant, respectively. The law also bans the unconstitutional practice of holding people who are released from local correctional facilities past their release date for immigration enforcement purposes without a judicial warrant.

“The passage of the Community Trust Act sends a clear message: Marylanders believe our communities are safer when people are treated with dignity, not targeted because of their immigration status,” said Yanet Amanuel, Public Policy Director at the ACLU of Maryland. “This law begins to put meaningful limits on a system that has too often criminalized immigrant communities, fueled racial injustice, and torn families apart. It is the result of years of courageous organizing by directly impacted people and advocates across the state who refused to accept fear and exclusion as public policy. Their leadership changed Maryland for the better.”

This victory is a direct result of consistent advocacy and organizing led by directly impacted families, coalitions, and advocates who showed up week after week, making calls, sending emails, and demanding that their lawmakers take action.

"When immigration enforcement is embedded into our racist legal system, it's Black and Brown folks who are indiscriminately targeted and whose families are torn apart," said Monica Brooks, NAACP Eastern Shore Regional Chair. "The Wicomico NAACP was proud to organize first in coalition with dozens of Haitian leaders and the ACLU to fight back against 287(g), and then again in the statewide fight to limit collusion with ICE. We applaud the multi-racial people power that has compelled our state leadership to be brave and pass legislation that moves us toward recognizing the full humanity of all Marylanders.”

Rooted in the ACLU of Maryland's mission to uplift the humanity of every Marylander, we will continue fighting to fully disentangle Maryland's legal system from immigration enforcement and ensure our communities are protected by the law — not targeted by it.