On February 23, 2026, the Prison Policy Initiative submitted written and oral testimony in the Maryland Legislature in support of HB 1575/SB 791, “The Community Trust Act.”
This bill stops Maryland law enforcement officials from collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through informal arrangements like alerting ICE that a certain person is in custody or allowing ICE access to local jails. Although Maryland has already banned formal agreements with ICE (called 287(g) agreements), the Prison Policy Initiative’s research showed that most Maryland ICE arrests that took place in local jails were the result of the informal collaboration that this bill would halt. This testimony builds on our research into collaboration with ICE around the country.
If you are a criminal legal system reform advocate or legislator who would like to talk to our Advocacy department about providing testimony for a bill, please reach out to us using our contact form.
