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Baltimore City Council passes bill limiting ICE cooperation

The Baltimore City Council chamber in Baltimore City Hall. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)
Ulysses Muñoz
/
The Baltimore Banner
The Baltimore City Council chamber in Baltimore City Hall.

The Baltimore City Council unanimously passed legislation to sharply curb any cooperation with between city agencies and ICE.

The council voted 14-0, with one member absent.

The Safe Spaces and Communities Act prohibits the city or any organization working with the city from entering into an agreement with a governmental or private group that houses detained immigrants.

The bill also prohibits Baltimore police from working with federal immigration enforcement officials unless they are executing a criminal warrant.

Under the bill, the city will not share any records or information about people with federal immigration.

“The core of the bill is around it's taking two existing policies and putting them into city law,” said Councilman Mark Parker, a sponsor of the bill. “The first is an executive order that's been updated over the years by our mayors, and certainly by Mayor Brandon Scott whose leadership has been very steadfast in this regard and very clear. The other is Baltimore Police Department policy around specific interactions with immigration enforcement, both the kind of on the street and in other ways. It's taking those existing policies and putting the force of law behind them and allowing the City Council to affirm those policies, strengthen them.”

The bill still needs the signature of Mayor Brandon Scott.

Scott signed an executive order earlier this month that prohibits ICE agents from using city-owned buildings.

Scott is the Health Reporter for WYPR. @smaucionewypr
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