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Sen. Chris Van Hollen urges reforms to ICE, warns of DHS funding deadline and outlines data-center bill
Summary
Sen. Chris Van Hollen told the Howard County delegation that ICE operations have produced inhumane conditions, urged targeted handling of Department of Homeland Security funding with about 11 days left, and described a bill to make data centers pay their own grid costs.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen spoke to the Howard County delegation about federal priorities and local impacts, focusing on immigration enforcement, federal appropriations and a bill he calls "Power to the People" to hold data centers financially accountable for strain on the grid.
Van Hollen opened by criticizing recent ICE operations and facilities, saying videos from a Baltimore holding facility showed inhumane conditions and asserting his office had "confirmed they were indeed from there." He praised Howard County officials for quickly changing a local ordinance to block ICE from purchasing a facility in Elkridge and said that while the state’s Dignity Not Detention Act limits contracts with ICE, it…
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