By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief |
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"I didn’t think [287(g)] was a bad program if run professionally. I never heard complaints about it during the Obama years or the Biden years. Trump has used ICE in such a way that anything associated with it has lost the confidence of a majority of the public, so I’m not sure it can continue at this point." – Frederick County Councilmember Jerry Donald, a House of Delegates candidate in District 4, on the state's decision to prohibit agreements allowing local police to work with federal immigration authorities.
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Happy Tuesday, and here are the headlines for your morning coffee. The move to ban 287(g) agreements, which let local police cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, divided lawmakers along party lines during the legislative session, and a survey of candidates for legislative seats finds that split carried over to would-be lawmakers, too.
Maryland farmers got a bit of good news Monday, when the USDA approved a disaster declaration for most of the state after orchards and vineyards were hammered by damages from a late-April freeze. And there's a bit of good news for Maryland Matters readers slogging through the primary election season along with the rest of us: Our regular election contest is back, with a chance for you to show off you political forecasting ability.
Those stories and more headlines are below to get your day started. Enjoy! |
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A sign supporting immigrants at an Oct. 23, 2025, prayer vigil in front of the Hyattsville Immigration Court. (Photo by Sam Gauntt/Capital News Service) |
By Sara Rooney and Amelia Twyman |
Maryland lawmakers recently banned county and local law enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement — and in the largely Democratic state, a vast majority of 2026 General Assembly primary candidates agree with the ban. But to many Republican candidates, saying the state will refuse to work with federal law enforcement could compromise public safety by removing federal resources from local officers.
Bobby “Al Jolson” Berger, a Baltimore County Republican running for the House of Delegates in District 6, is a former Baltimore City police officer and Al Jolson impersonator who considers himself a “100% Trump MAGA supporter.” He said it’s only natural for local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE agents. “If I'm a policeman in the county and ICE comes in, I'm supposed to help them,” Berger said.
Most Democrats are like Del. Teresa Woorman (D-Montgomery), who said banning police from cooperating with ICE builds trust between local officers and immigrant communities and allows immigrants to feel safer when reporting crimes. But to Woorman, it's personal, too. “I grew up in this country undocumented, so I know what it feels like to live with that uncertainty and fear,” she said.
Of the 235 candidates in competitive legislative races in the state, 141 responded to a Local News Network survey, with most showing support for the ban and a few others expressing either hesitation or outright disapproval. |
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A warmer-than-usual spring left crops particularly vulnerable to a late-April freeze that devastated some orchards and vineyards in the state. (Photo by Dina Ivanova/IStock Getty Images Plus) |
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday approved the state's request for a disaster declaration after a late-April freeze devastated some orchards and vineyards in the state.
In a letter to Gov. Wes Moore (D), Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the department determined there had been "sufficient production losses to warrant a Secretarial natural disaster declaration" in 12 Maryland counties.
The declaration also declared an additional eight Maryland counties and 16 counties in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia, as "contiguous" disaster counties. The declaration means farmers in all those counties can apply for emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.
Rollins said USDA could not determine if six counties -- Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Kent, Prince George's and St. Mary's -- has incurred sufficient damage to qualify as primary disaster areas, but that they could be added at a later date. Anne Arundel, Kent and Prince George's counties were included on the list of contiguous disaster areas in this first cut.
The news was welcomed by Moore, who asked for the declaration last month in response to "extensive" crop damage after the April 27 cold snap. |
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Election predictions: Crystal ball? Tea leaves? Actual scientific surveys? Whatever your preferred method of predicting the political futured, dust it off: Maryland Matters' election contest is back.
Mail-in headaches: As election officials across the country steel themselves for midterm elections just months away, President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail threatens to upend their preparations.
Political notes: District 6 Democratic hopefuls band together to criticize front-running Del. Adrian Boafo, and outgoing Sen. Joanne C. Benson endorses a successor for her District 24 seat just 10 days before the primary, in political notes. |
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MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED |
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Inflation eats into family budgets: Inflation surged last month to the highest rate in more than three years, driving up the costs of everything from food to gas for Maryland families, experts said, and putting aid groups on edge.
District 41 showdown: After her federal indictment on blackmailing charges, Sen. Dalya Attar (D-Baltimore City) faces a formidable opponent in Del. Malcolm Ruff (D-Baltimore City), who has the governor’s backing and a fundraising edge.
Montgomery presses pause: Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on Friday ordered the county to “temporarily pause the acceptance and processing of permit applications for new data centers” for the next six months. |
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