Coalition relaunches effort to declare MoCo a sanctuary county

A group calling itself the Montgomery County Trust Act Coalition is again urging the County Council to officially declare Montgomery County a sanctuary county. The County is already unofficially a sanctuary jurisdiction, as it has repeatedly released prisoners from the County jail on whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed detainers, so that federal agents can arrest and deport those individuals.

ICE reprimanded County officials in 2017 for forcing them to chase down an individual the County let go, despite a retainer being lodged. A second man was released despite a detainer last December, and was shot and killed in Takoma Park by another gang member.

The sanctuary effort may have been revitalized by the Trump administration's failure to follow through with any sanctions against existing sanctuary jurisdictions, including threats to cut federal funds. Despite tough talk, Attorney General Jeff Sessions quickly backed down from publishing lists of prisoners with detainers that jurisdictions like Montgomery had released, when County officials cried foul after the inaugural list was published. And public outrage over the separation of families at the border earlier this year may have created a more-favorable environment to raise the issue in progressive Montgomery County.

Montgomery County Trust Act Coalition is asking community groups to sign onto its letter to the Council by noon today. It plans to send the letter on September 13. Members of the coalition include the ACLU of Maryland, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Jews United for Justice, Progressive Maryland, and Showing Up for Racial Justice - Montgomery County.