Maryland

"Outraged by the Trump administration’s escalating immigration enforcement tactics, a Maryland lawmaker proposed banning agents recruited and hired to carry out the president’s mass deportations from ever working in state public safety jobs. “It says something about the morals of the person — the character of the person — if they see what’s happening on TV, they see what happening in the streets and say, ‘You know what? I want to join that,’ ” said Del. Adrian Boafo (D-Prince George’s), the bill’s sponsor. “Something’s off about that,” he said. Boafo announced his “ICE Breaker Act of 2026” hours before a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, which sparked protests and renewed accusations that President Donald Trump unleashed a reckless force into communities."

"Across the country, Democrats have been grappling with how to respond to ramped up immigration enforcement that they say has terrorized communities and is often carried out by agents wearing masks. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), for example, signed a law banning masked agents; the Trump administration has filed a lawsuit to block it. Boafo’s legislation would specifically ban ICE enforcement agents hired after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 of last year from holding jobs in state law enforcement. He conceived it after The Washington Post reported on the Trump administration’s planned $100 million “wartime recruitment” strategy, he said. The push to attract thousands of new agents targets military enthusiasts and people interested in gun culture, using rhetoric that emphasizes messages such as “destroy the flood” and “the enemies are at the gates.” “These are the type of folks that were recruited, quite literally, to just wreak havoc,” Boafo said. He noted federal experience is often a gateway to other jobs, and eventually the immigration enforcement surge will end, potentially flooding the law enforcement job market in the D.C.-area with former agents. “I don’t want them a part of Maryland’s police force. So this is not just about the moment now right? It’s also about in the future,” he said."

"The idea drew backlash from Republicans in the state, who questioned its legality and see the ban as a proxy for barring people from jobs based on their political views. “This is a dumb idea,” Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Harford) said. “Law enforcement hiring should be based on the training, experience, and conduct of the candidate, not a partisan litmus test tied to some president you don’t like,” she said. House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany), an attorney, said the bill has “questionable legality to begin with” and called it “a politically posturing bill and not worthy of serious consideration.” Buckel said barring people from state employment because of prior jobs they held — particularly over political disputes — “leads to some really messy places.” “I get it. I get it that people are upset,” Buckel said. “What’s happening in some of these incidents are terrible. Tragic,” he said. “But to suggest that the response to that is to bar federal workers from working for state government? I’m pretty sure that most ICE agents aren’t suited up with gear on the streets. A lot of them are bureaucrats.”"

"The proposal is among several anti-ICE bills that Maryland Democrats have crafted ahead of the General Assembly session that begins Wednesday. The party holds supermajorities in both chambers, and leaders in the House of Delegates and Senate will also be considering outlawing the controversial 287 (g) programs that deputize local law enforcement to help with federal law enforcement and forbidding ICE agents from wearing identity-concealing masks. California enacted similar anti-masking laws, the “No Secret Police Act” and “No Vigilantes Act” in September. In the Trump administration lawsuit to stop it, the Justice Department argued that only the federal government can regulate federal agents. “The laws would recklessly endanger the lives of federal agents and their family members and compromise the operational effectiveness of federal law enforcement activities,” the Justice Department wrote in court documents that cites a Department of Homeland Security news releases asserting a 8,000 percent increase in death threats against ICE law enforcement. “The threats to federal officers are serious and potentially deadly,” the government argued in the lawsuit. “They range from taunting, online doxing, and stalking, to 'vehicles being used as weapons toward’ officers and even bounties being ‘placed on their heads for their murders.’”"

"Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon (D-Montgomery) has proposed a “digital unmasking” law to identify these agents another way: requiring Maryland law enforcement to proactively investigate and collect identifying information on every masked federal immigration agent conducting an operation within the state’s borders. “I’ve wondered if something bad happens, will there be any for accountability for people?” Moon said. “This is a way to reassure the public that Maryland is doing something to keep the avenues open for the rule of law and redress.” The digital profiles of masked ICE agents would be not be public, but in a state law enforcement database that could be used to identify a federal agent “credibly accused” of criminal violence or unconstitutional acts, he said. Boafo said that even if his bill barring future state employment of ICE agents doesn’t pass, the debate has value because it “gives room for hope for folks that we’re doing all we can, as a state to fight ICE.”"

"I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd's plantation as one of the most interesting events of my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the galling chains of slavery. Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. I have ever regarded it as the first plain manifestation of that kind providence which has ever since attended me, and marked my life with so many favors. I regarded the selection of myself as being somewhat remarkable. There were a number of slave children that might have been sent from the plantation to Baltimore."

"Maryland Democrat and 2016 presidential aspirant Martin O'Malley called the Baltimore riots a 'wake-up call' for the entire country. O'Malley was a fixture in Baltimore politics and government for 24 years before Baltimore exploded last week. Was he asleep during that time? Eight years on Baltimore’s city council, eight years as Baltimore mayor, and eight years as Maryland’s governor. During much of O’Malley’s quarter century in power, he had an invulnerable Democratic majority in Annapolis, powerful Maryland Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate, and Democrats in charge in the White House. O’Malley’s tenure held promise for Maryland. But the promise was squandered when he failed to turn Maryland around...No living Maryland Democrat has been better positioned than Martin O’Malley to remake Baltimore. William Schaefer, Maryland’s late governor and Baltimore mayor, is remembered for building the Camden Yards ballfield and cleaning up Baltimore’s once-dilapidated waterfront. But O’Malley will be remembered for his 'rain tax', crony capitalism, the jail debacle, and mass arrests. He will also be remembered for hubris: How else to describe a man who rushed to Baltimore from abroad to parade in front of the cameras during the riots? Today’s city hall has much to answer for, but O’Malley also deserves much of the blame for last week’s chaos in Maryland’s largest city. In fact, Baltimoreans heckled O’Malley when he appeared on street corners last week to mew at them about the riots. The people know their heroes."

"I am a lifelong Marylander who loves this state. Every great experience, every great memory, every great moment I have ever had in my life, has happened right here, in Maryland. … The question isn't whether Maryland is a great state. The question is: What will we do, all of us, to reinvigorate this great state that we all love? What will we do to ensure that our future is better than our present or our past?"

"Today, I am reminded of those brave Marylanders who first came to this land seeking freedom and opportunity when they landed in St. Mary's City in 1634. While the challenges facing us today are different, I know that the courage and the spirit of Marylanders is the same."

"We seek the freedom to compete without the undue burden of high taxes and bureaucratic regulations, which make us less competitive. We seek opportunities to build better communities, better businesses, and better lives for ourselves, our children, and our children's children. And most of all, we cherish both the freedom and opportunity to decide our future. And today, we celebrate that freedom and opportunity. What I envision for Maryland is not just an economic and fiscal recovery, but a rebirth of our spirit, and a renewed commitment to our common purpose. … One hundred years from now, I want Marylanders to say, "This was when Maryland's renaissance began." … Let us appeal to the better angels of our nature so that we can achieve the great and shining promise of Maryland."

"The history of our great state is rich and deep, and our commitment to freedom and justice has always been our strength. … In our hearts, Marylanders are hard-wired for inclusiveness. It's who we are, it's our founding principle, it's part of our identity, and it is our greatest strength."

"In 2021, Maryland passed a bill establishing that the "discovery or perception of, or belief about, another person's sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, whether or not accurate, does not constitute legally adequate provocation to mitigate a killing from the crime of murder to manslaughter" and "is not a defense to the crime of assault in any degree.""

"The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! My Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland! My Maryland! Avenge the patriotic gore That flecked the streets of Baltimore, And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland! My Maryland!"

"Thou wilt not cower in the dust, Maryland! My Maryland! Thy beaming sword shall never rust, Maryland! My Maryland! Remember Carroll's sacred trust, Remember Howard's warlike thrust,— And all thy slumberers with the just, Maryland! My Maryland!"

"Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain, Maryland! My Maryland! Virginia should not call in vain, Maryland! My Maryland! She meets her sisters on the plain— Sic semper! 'tis the proud refrain That baffles minions back amain, Maryland! My Maryland!"

"I see the blush upon thy cheek, Maryland! My Maryland! For thou wast ever bravely meek, Maryland! My Maryland! But lo! there surges forth a shriek, From hill to hill, from creek to creek— Potomac calls to Chesapeake, Maryland! My Maryland!"

"Data Collection. The CDC’s abortion surveillance and maternity mortality reporting systems are woefully inadequate. CDC abortion data are reported by states on a voluntary basis, and California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not submit abortion data at all. Accurate and reliable statistical data about abortion, abortion survivors, and abortion-related maternal deaths are essential to timely, reliable public health and policy analysis. Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, HHS should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method."

"Maryland lawmakers gave final passage on Monday to repeal the state song, a Civil War-era call to arms for the Confederacy against “Northern scum” that refers to President Abraham Lincoln as a despot. The vote by Maryland’s House of Delegates comes after decades of debate over the song titled “Maryland, My Maryland.” It sends the measure to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. The governor’s spokesman, Michael Ricci, declined to say whether Hogan would sign the bill, because it has not been formally presented to him, but he noted the governor has said he doesn’t like the song. The song, set to the traditional seasonal tune of “O, Tannenbaum,” was written as a poem in 1861 by James Ryder Randall. It was adopted as the state song in 1939. Maryland lawmakers have tried to replace it since 1974. Last year’s nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and other police-involved deaths helped to strengthen resolve to finally repeal “Maryland, My Maryland” as the state song. “There was a feeling of enough is enough,” said Sen. Cheryl Kagan, who sponsored the legislation this year for her third time."

"The measure passed the state Senate 45-0. The House passed the bill 95-38 on Monday, as a former Minneapolis police officer went on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death in May. Maryland was a border state in 1861, and many of its residents at the time sympathized with Randall’s call to secede from the Union. He wrote it as he was distraught over the shooting of a friend during a melee when Union troops marched through Baltimore on their way to Washington. The song begins with a hostile reference to Lincoln: “The despot’s heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!” Previous attempts to change it have stalled over disagreements about finding a replacement. This time, sponsors avoided that debate by repealing it without a replacement."

"Opposition to the song has been growing in recent years. In 2017, the University of Maryland marching band announced it would no longer play “Maryland, My Maryland” before football games. Last year, Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore that’s part of horse racing’s Triple Crown, scrapped its tradition of playing the song before the race. “This isn’t just about legislation. It’s about a consensus that has developed over the years,” Kagan, a Democrat, said. Other legacies of the Confederacy have been removed in Maryland, and around the nation. Days after violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, Maryland officials removed from the Capitol grounds a statue of Roger Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court justice whose 1857 Dred Scott decision upheld slavery and denied citizenship to African-Americans. Last year, Mississippi adopted a magnolia symbol as it replaced the last state flag in the U.S. with the Confederate battle emblem. Virginia removed from its Capitol the busts and a statue honoring Confederate generals and officials, including a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee."