MOORE SIGNS LEGISLATION BANNING LOCAL ICE PARTNERSHIPS; SHERIFFS OBJECT: Gov. Wes Moore effectively ended Maryland’ s participation in the federal 287(g) program on Tuesday after signing legislation banning local partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
- The ban forces nine sheriff’s offices in the state to immediately sever agreements with ICE — including the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, which had one of the nation’s longest-running 287(g) agreements. The federal government uses the agreements to help ICE agents take into custody people they allege are in the country illegally; immigrant rights advocates in Maryland have been lobbying against the partnerships for more than a decade. Katie Mettler and Dana Hedgpeth/The Washington Post.
- Nine jurisdictions were working with ICE under the program before Gov. Wes Moore signed the legislation outlawing them. One is the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, led by Republican Jim DeWees, who calls the move short-sighted. Blair Sabol/WMAR-TV News.
- “This bill won’t bring my dad home,” said 10-year-old Liliana Ramirez, whose father remains detained by ICE. “But it means that other kids like me and other families won’t have to go through what my family went through. And that gives me hope.” Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
LAWMAKERS SEEK TO END TAX BREAK FOR DRUG COMMERCIALS: TV commercial breaks are flooded with direct-to-consumer drug ads these days. They usually have someone jogging or a grandparent hugging their grandchild and then a narrator butts in with a long list of possible side effects. Drug companies get tax breaks for those commercials and Maryland lawmakers want to end it. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
BILL TO BAN ‘DYNAMIC PRICING’ COULD BACKFIRE: A bill that would prevent grocery stores from changing prices from one shopper to the next through “dynamic pricing” may backfire by prohibiting stores from issuing targeted discounts and promotions, retail lobbyists warned lawmakers Tuesday. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
BALTIMORE COUNTY COUNCIL BLOCKS ICE DETENTION CENTER: The Baltimore County Council took swift action Tuesday night to block the construction of an ICE detention center in Hunt Valley. The emergency session came after the county executive learned the U.S. General Services Administration leased an office space in the county. Councilmembers passed the legislation with a unanimous 6-0 vote. Staff/WBAL-NewsRadio.
- For some people in Baltimore County, the thought of ICE in their neighborhoods has brought looming fear for months. “I live in a community where there are many people of color. And to think that they would be here in Baltimore County, plan their activities, and then come do raids in my community with outstanding immigrants – it just makes me sick,” said Susan Radke. Raven Payne/WMAR-TV News.
- The 6-0 vote came days after County Executive Kathy Klausmeier requested the emergency session following reports that ICE was opening a legal office in Hunt Valley. “This legislation responds to a troubling national pattern of immigrant families being detained in facilities that have opened without notice or consideration of community impact,” Klausmeier said in a statement. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ICE FROM DETAINING ABREGO GARCIA AGAIN: Federal ICE officials cannot re-detain Kilmar Ábrego García, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, allowing the Beltsville resident to remain on supervised release with his family while he awaits trial in a Tennessee criminal court. Ábrego García, a Salvadoran national and Maryland resident, was freed from immigration detention on Dec. 11 after a nine-month battle with the Trump administration over his improper deportation to his home country. Daniel Zawodny and Sara Ruberg/The Baltimore Banner.
- Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran immigrant and longtime Maryland resident whose wrongful deportation to a brutal megaprison last year cast a national spotlight on the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Ariana Figueroa/Maryland Matters.
MONTGOMERY DATA CENTER REGULATIONS MOVE FORWARD: A proposed zoning text amendment that aims to regulate data centers — where they can be located and under what conditions — is moving forward following a review by the Montgomery County Planning Board. The board approved the recommendations, which include refining the county’s definition of a data center, improving the framework for development standards based on the facility’s size and energy usage and strengthening mitigations for climate impact. Elia Griffin/Bethesda Today.
ARUNDEL CAMPAIGN WORKER SUBJECTED TO RACIST ABUSE: Anne Arundel County Councilman Pete Smith, a Democrat who is running for county executive, said a campaign volunteer was subjected to racist abuse as he canvassed in Crofton over the weekend. Smith, who is Black, posted a video on Facebook that he said shows the encounter. The video includes a statement from Smith denouncing the hatred. Alex Mann/The Baltimore Banner.
FORMER ANNAPOLIS MAYOR BUCKLEY RUNNING FOR ARUNDEL COUNCIL: Gavin Buckley’s break from politics didn’t last long. Just months after completing eight years as mayor of Annapolis, Buckley has filed to run for Anne Arundel County Council. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
THE OVERDOSE CRISIS ISN’T OVER; IT’s JUST EVOLVING: The fentanyl overdose crisis does not appear to be disappearing, but evolving, experts say. A mix of other chemicals — often less immediately lethal than fentanyl, but dangerous in other ways — has grown increasingly common. Drug dealers have been experimenting with risky additives to compensate for weak fentanyl, said a former user, which means more dangerous side effects for people who use drugs. Alissa Zhu and Sahana Jayaraman/The Baltimore Banner.
WHAT THE POTOMAC SEWAGE SPILL WILL MEAN FOR THE REGION: D.C. Water and city officials, engineering and water management experts and environmental groups answered some questions about what the 200-million-plus gallon sewage spill into the Potomac River means for the D.C. region and the status of recovery efforts. Dana Hedgpeth and Jenny Gathright/The Washington Post.
