Maryland House debates narrowing 287(g) cooperation; multiple amendments fail, bill laid over

Annapolis — The Maryland House spent the better part of a floor day debating House Bill 444, a measure that would restrict local immigration‑enforcement agreements commonly referred to by the statutory shorthand “287(g).” Lawmakers offered a string of amendments aimed at narrowing or qualifying the bill’s scope, but most proposals failed in recorded votes and the sponsor ultimately asked that the bill be laid over for further work.

The most prominent amendment, introduced by Speaker 9, would have limited any 287(g)-style cooperation to “crimes of violence,” a set of offenses the mover described as “the worst of the worst.” “This amendment says that you can have a 287(g) program that just deals with crimes of violence,” Speaker 9 said on the floor, urging colleagues to prevent Maryland from becoming a “sanctuary state for people that commit crimes of violence.”

House floor leadership urged rejection. “I urge this body to resist the…