Some state lawmakers are working to combat President Donald Trump’s new immigration mandate to detain and deport people who entered the country illegally, regardless of their criminal history.

“We’re going to fight like hell to make sure that our immigrant brothers and sisters and the fabric of our community are safe and protected,” Del. Jared Solomon, a Montgomery County Democrat, said Thursday.

Some Republicans, on the other hand, have said that state law enforcement should assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in fulfilling Trump’s directives.

In a post to X Thursday, the Maryland Freedom Caucus accused Attorney General Anthony Brown, who has issued guidance to health care professionals and police officers regarding ICE interactions, of “fearmongering.”

“President Trump was handed a mandate this past November to repair our leaky borders and bring safety to our communities — even in Maryland,” the caucus wrote.

Trump has yet to complete his second full week in office, but so far, he has issued a blitz of executive orders that honor his promises on the campaign trail, including his commitment to implement aggressive immigration policy.

Under his directives, ICE officers can now detain anyone they arrest and are allowed to seek out people in schools, places of worship, hospitals and courthouses.

Crisaly de los Santos, of immigration advocacy organization Casa Maryland, said at a news conference Thursday morning that her organization has received reports of ICE officers driving around schools and stationing themselves in school parking lots.

Matt Hornbeck, the principal of Hampstead Hill Academy in Baltimore, said that the parents of one of his first-grade students are so scared that they sent color copies of his visa and passport for his teacher to show to ICE in case officers enter his school.

In addition to the new authority ICE holds, U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would honor Trump’s intentions to detain 30,000 immigrants at Guantanamo Bay, which has been used to hold people accused of terrorism.

“We’re leaning forward on supporting the president’s directive that we have a location for violent criminal illegals as they are deported out of the country,” Hegseth said in a video the agency posted on X.

Trump also issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship, which is protected under the U.S. Constitution.

Some members of the Maryland General Assembly, which convened for its annual 90-day legislative session almost two weeks before Trump’s inauguration, are acting where they can.

Solomon, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Vice Chair Will Smith, and House Ways and Means Committee Vice Chair Jheanelle Wilkins — all Montgomery County Democrats — are sponsoring the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would limit ICE’s access to schools, hospitals, courthouses and places of worship.

“At its fundamental core, this bill is about ensuring that every institution that we have deemed … critical to our communities has guidance from our attorney general to know what their rights are, and to make sure that they know when and where and how they can prevent ICE from coming in,” Solomon said.

In response to Trump’s directives, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said that his administration will ensure that the state and all 24 of its local jurisdictions follow the Constitution regarding enforcement of Trump’s policies.

“We are going to make sure that our local jurisdictions are following the Constitution,” Moore said earlier this week, “and we are going to make sure … we are getting violent offenders off of our streets and out of our neighborhoods, frankly, regardless of where they come from.”

The 1996 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Printz v. United States set the precedent that the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution does not give the federal government the authority to force state officials to carry out federal programs. Through this clause, Congress has the ability to act in ways not specifically listed in the Constitution.

Brown, a Democrat, issued updated guidance for state and local law enforcement and health care professionals regarding immigration enforcement in Maryland. Brown also filed a brief along with several other attorneys general challenging the executive order to end birthright citizenship on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.

Order complicates state budget

Trump’s orders have given a whiplash with his directives to freeze — and then un-freeze — federal funding that finances transportation projects, medical research, local government services, community-based nonprofits and a plethora of other utilities.

The freeze, which was issued Monday night, was reversed Wednesday.

Adding to the confusion, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, tweeted Wednesday afternoon that the executive order pausing federal funding remains “in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.”

Moore said Thursday morning that the funding freeze shake-up demonstrates “the lack of transparency, the lack of consistency [and] the lack of partnership” between Trump and governors across the United States. He said it’s “deeply frustrating” for state chief executives and “deeply troubling” for their constituents.

“This is not just some kind of theoretical game,” Moore said at Reisterstown Elementary School. “These are real lives that are impacted by this.”

The confusion about what federal dollars may or may not be frozen down the line complicates an already fraught budget season for Maryland, which is currently contending with a nearly $3 billion deficit.

Asked last week what the freeze could mean for Maryland, which heavily leans on federal funding to pay for programs, projects and services under its budget, Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, said that Moore left wiggle room to pull more money out of the state’s Rainy Day Fund in his budget proposal for unforeseen circumstances — but not for something of this financial magnitude.

“We’ll try to do what we can to supplement to the degree feasible,” Ferguson said. “I think we won’t be able to cover every gap.”

The question of whether enough can be done in 90 days for Maryland to react to the president’s plans adequately is wide open.

Under the state Constitution, the Maryland General Assembly meets 90 days a year beginning on the second Wednesday of January. The governor has the authority to extend sessions up to 30 days, but that power is rarely wielded.

Moore issued an executive order last April to extend the 2024 legislative session by 10 days amid tense budget negotiations and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The legislature adjourned for the year on the scheduled 90th day.

The governor also has the ability to call special sessions throughout the year. The last special legislative session was held in Dec. 2021, when the legislature met for four days to reconfigure the state’s congressional and legislative districts.

The legislature is only a little over 20 days into the 2025 legislative session, and much remains to be seen from Trump before the General Assembly determines what legislative action to take in response.

Have a news tip? Contact Hannah Gaskill at hgaskill@baltsun.com.