Luminus Network Submits Testimony in Favor of Eliminating 287(g) Agreements in Maryland
The 287(g) program lets Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) delegate immigration enforcement to local police, allowing them to investigate status and assist with immigrant detentions. In Maryland, as of July 2025, Allegany, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, St. Mary’s and Washington counties have 287(g) agreements.
There are 3 different models local law enforcement can choose to participate in:
- Jail Enforcement Model: Designed to identify and process undocumented residents with pending criminal charges
- Task Force Model: Enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during routine police duties
- Warrant Service Officer program: Serve and execute administrative warrants on undocumented persons in jail
In Maryland, only the jail-based versions exist.
Learn more about the issue:
Bill to ban local police cooperation with ICE to return, with important new support
Our testimony is below:
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Testimony on Senate Bill 245 – Favorable
SB 245 – Public Safety – Immigration Enforcement Agreements – Prohibition
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
January 22, 2026
Dear Honorable Chair Smith, Vice Chair Waldstreicher, and Members of the Committee,
The Luminus Network respectfully offers favorable testimony in support of SB 245 – Public Safety – Immigration Enforcement Agreements – Prohibition.
The Luminus Network was founded in 1981 in Howard County as the Foreign-born Immigrant Resource Network (FIRN) to help immigrant students at Howard Community College assimilate to life in central Maryland. We are currently serving immigrants across central Maryland with immigration legal services, including such services as work permit renewals, asylum applications, DACA renewals, other adjustments of status, and U-Visas. Luminus is guided by our core values in everything we do: community, trustworthy, inclusive, supportive, and sustainable.
U-Visas provide an immigration pathway for victims of serious crime who assist authorities in investigations or prosecutions. U-Visas are good public policy, as someone willing to prey upon immigrants is likely to prey upon others in the community as well. 287(g) agreements undermine public safety by making immigrant crime victims reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement.
The 287(g) program has a documented history of racial profiling, discrimination, and wrongful detention. It diverts local law enforcement away from their primary role of protecting public safety and erodes trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities. When trust is broken, community safety suffers. The 287(g) program erodes trust between communities and local police and, as a CATO Institute study concluded, is “not an effective anti-crime tool.”
At its core, SB 245 is about upholding Maryland’s values – fairness, dignity, and justice for all. This bill affirms that our state should not be in the business of tearing families apart, undermining public trust, or diverting state and local resources into federal immigration enforcement. Instead, Maryland should remain focused on community safety, due process, and equal treatment under the law by prohibiting immigration enforcement agreements such as 287(g).
We have seen several chilling effects in central Maryland: parents are reluctant to send their children to school, harming the children’s academic futures, families are frightened to leave their homes, increasing demand on charitable support for food deliveries, and rumors spread through immigrant communities, creating fear and fomenting panic.
For these reasons, the Luminus Network urges the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to issue a favorable report on SB 245.