While there’s no evidence Maryland is about to receive migrants sent from other states, Annapolis and state officials Tuesday did a rehearsal of their response should asylum seekers suddenly arrive.

“We can make sure that we are always humanizing these situations because I think that is something that gets lost at times,” said Daniel Wait, deputy secretary for talent and customer service for the Maryland Department of Human Services.

In 2022, several Southern states, including Texas, Florida and Arizona, began sending asylum seekers to large, Democratic-led cities.

Those programs were quickly criticized by politicians on the left and activists as inhumane political stunts. Since launching, Texas’ Operation Lone Star has relocated more than 100,000 people alone, according to the governor’s office. Republican leaders, conversely, have pointed to the Democrats’ immigration and border policies as driving the need for the programs.

Since the practice began, however, some of the receiving cities have adopted their own form of removal, sometimes, as in Denver, spending millions of dollars to purchase outgoing bus tickets.

In Maryland, state and local leaders have been preparing for the possible arrival of migrants for “at least two-plus years,” said Maryland Department of Emergency Management Secretary Russ Strickland.

The state’s proximity to Washington, D.C., where Texas has sent more than 12,500 migrants, has focused efforts on counties like Montgomery and Prince George’s, Strickland said. However, Maryland has also directed resources to places such as Baltimore City and county, and now Annapolis.

Charity organizations are often part of the plans, Strickland said. In Annapolis, several businesses and houses of worship, have volunteered their services, according to Kevin Simmons, director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, which headed Tuesday’s drill. For instance, should the migrants, like those sent to Vice President Kamala Harris’ house in Washington in 18-degree weather, need warmer clothes, Goodwill has agreed to donate items, he said.

Simmons said Annapolis will meet any migrants with “compassion, dignity and respect.”

“They’re fellow human beings and they were put in a difficult situation,” Simmons said. “They made their journey because of persecution, to find a better life and the like.”

Simmons led a group of around 20 state and Annapolis officials to two buildings that would act as the city’s primary response sites: the Stanton Community Center on West Washington Street and the Pip Moyer Recreation Center 2 miles away on Hilltop Lane.

A gymnasium at the first site, Simmons explained, will serve as an intake facility, with migrants filling out basic information and indicating what “immediate needs” should be addressed and “begin the transition of emergency sheltering.”

Government officials, including City Council members Harry Huntley of Ward 1, Rhonda Pindell Charles of Ward 3 and Sheila Finlayson of Ward 4, watched as dozens of volunteers worked through the process. Inside, tables were set up connecting people with social and first-aid services — though personnel said migrants in crisis would be taken directly to a hospital.

In the early afternoon, the convoy proceeded to an auxiliary gym in the recreation center, following the proposed path of migrants from the Stanton Center. There, around 50 cots were prepared with inflatable pillows and hygiene kits containing deodorant, a toothbrush, toothpaste and other items.

Migrants brought to Annapolis would not be forced to stay or receive assistance from the city, Simmons said.

Many migrant families have plans for where they want to go, and he said the city will do what they can to get them there. For those who stay, Simmons said the goal is to get them temporary shelter within 72 hours. In some cases, such as unaccompanied minors or single pregnant women, area houses of worship have committed dormitories for assistance, according to the director.

Tuesday’s event was designed to get ahead of any event that could catch the city off-guard. For the last 15 years, the Annapolis office has held annual drills for a variety of emergencies.

Simmons said he tries to make the drills topical and relevant — once, eerily so. In 2018, his office held an active shooter drill, just days before a gunman attacked the Capital Gazette newsroom and killed five staff members.