Trump DOJ Sues State
The Trump administration has launched another legal challenge over immigration enforcement, filing a lawsuit against Maryland over its sanctuary policies that federal officials say are preventing immigration laws from being fully enforced.
The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it is suing the state of Maryland and Attorney General Anthony Brown, arguing that state policies unlawfully interfere with federal immigration authorities and make it more difficult to detain and remove illegal immigrants.
At the center of the lawsuit is Maryland’s Community Trust Act, a law that limits how state and local law enforcement agencies can cooperate with federal immigration officials.
According to the Justice Department, the law creates significant obstacles for immigration enforcement by restricting coordination between local agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Federal officials argue these limitations have made it harder to carry out immigration operations and enforce existing federal law.
The DOJ says Maryland’s policies have already caused operational challenges. According to the lawsuit, some detention facilities have declined to honor routine ICE detainer requests or assist with transferring illegal immigrants into federal custody, even after federal authorities submitted standard legal paperwork.
Justice Department attorneys argue that Maryland’s sanctuary policies conflict with federal immigration law and violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which establishes that federal law takes precedence over conflicting state laws.
The department also contends that limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities can undermine public safety by making it more difficult to remove individuals who are subject to federal immigration enforcement.
The Maryland lawsuit is part of a broader nationwide effort by the Trump administration to challenge sanctuary policies across the country. According to the Justice Department, it has now filed 20 lawsuits against states and jurisdictions with similar policies, including Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, and New York.
Maryland officials quickly pushed back against the lawsuit.
Governor Wes Moore’s spokesperson, Rhyan Lake, said the state will continue cooperating with federal authorities when doing so improves public safety but opposes requiring local law enforcement officers to carry out federal immigration duties.
Lake said Maryland will continue cooperating with federal authorities when such coordination improves public safety. However, he said the state will not allow what he described as “untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable” ICE agents under President Donald Trump’s administration to direct local law enforcement officers to carry out federal immigration enforcement duties.
Governor Moore did not sign the Community Trust Act when it reached his desk. Instead, he allowed the legislation to become law without his signature, permitting the measure to take effect while stopping short of formally endorsing it.
The lawsuit is expected to become another closely watched legal battle over the role states play in immigration enforcement. If the federal government prevails, the outcome could influence how sanctuary policies are implemented nationwide and reshape cooperation between state law enforcement agencies and federal immigration officials.
As the case moves through the courts, it is likely to play a significant role in the broader national debate over border security, states’ rights, and the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law.
