MD House passes bill to limit ICE interactions on public school property

Listen to this article

The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill Friday to prohibit public school security personnel from aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement in investigating students and faculty on school property.

Sponsored by Del. Eric Ebersole, D-Baltimore County, the legislation would bar public school security personnel from engaging in federal immigration investigations, or sharing student education employee records or any information divulged about their households or families with ICE for investigative purposes.

Public school security personnel would be required to immediately contact their county superintendents and district legal counsel if they were presented with a valid judicial warrant, judicial subpoena or other legal order to produce information about a student, school employee or their families related to federal immigration enforcement investigations.

The bill was amended in the House Judiciary Committee to expand the definition of a “sensitive location” to include a designated school bus stop and school vehicles, as well as places that dispense food to people in need. 

This is an emergency bill, so should it also pass in the Senate, it would go into effect immediately upon receipt of the governor’s signature.

On Wednesday, Del. April Rose, R-Carroll, asked if children are currently being pulled out of schools by ICE officers in the state.

In response, Del. Nicole Williams, D-Prince George’s, said members of the General Assembly have received requests “from various school systems” for additional guidance in regard to ICE interaction.

“We’ve heard from several school systems that they would like for more clarity, or what they can and cannot do in these situations, and that was the impetus for this bill,” Williams said.

Rose asked, “But this hasn’t happened, so this is an ‘if,’ is that correct?”

House Judiciary Committee Chair J. Sandy Bartlett, D-Anne Arundel, said that, “unfortunately, what has happened is that outside of the school, children and parents have been abducted and detained by ICE.”

“… while we may not have had an exact instance just yet, the school needs to know what to do if they’re served or if they are somehow approached,” she said. “You need to know the law to be able to obey the law.”

In recent days, students have staged walkouts to protest ICE activity in Maryland and across the United States, and Bartlett said Wednesday that a “situation” occurred between ICE and a student at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring this week.

Rose requested Wednesday that the bill be held for possible amendments, which never came.

Addressing the bill Thursday, Rose said that after speaking with local law enforcement, she felt the bill to be unnecessary.

“However, I do not have any further amendments. I’ll just be voting no, and I appreciate the conversation,” Rose said.

The legislation passed out of the House chamber Friday morning on a vote of 90-34 with no discussion. The bill now has to be heard and passed in the Senate chamber.

Senate Majority Leader Nancy King, D-Montgomery, is sponsoring her chamber’s version of the bill, which will be heard in the Education, Energy and the Environment Committee on March 4.