ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland supporters of a bill they say would increase trust between immigrants and local law enforcement are pushing to move the measure to passage in the last week of the legislative session. Opponents, meanwhile, are working to stop it.
Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler came to Annapolis Monday to underscore their concerns. They say the measure will impede local jails from holding people on immigration detainers and make the state "a magnet" for people in the country illegally with criminal records.
But lawmakers who support the bill say it would prevent law enforcement from detaining people solely to ask about their immigration status. They also say it would stop jails from holding arrestees without probable cause, simply because federal immigration officials make the request.
