Testimony on HB 1461 –
OPPOSE – Maryland Law Enforcement Trust Act
On March 8, 2018, I submitted testimony against bill HB1461 in the Maryland General Assembly, a bill which would create conditions to protect and promote the presence of illegal immigration in Maryland. I believe this action is unwise and dangerous as a threat to public safety, as it would interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration laws that are vital to the safety and well-being of all Maryland citizens. In addition, its effect would add to the tax burden of Maryland citizens, by promoting the presence of an increasing population of illegal aliens in the state, who can only survive through taxpayer funded relief and welfare.
This bill would deter public safety in several significant ways. For example, it would protect and insulate criminal illegal aliens from capture by federal immigration agents, to thereby promote and support more serious crime in Maryland through the increased violence by gangs and lawless criminal elements, such as MS-13, who especially prey on the fear, language deficiency, ignorance, and vulnerable, dependent status of others in the illegal alien community. National surveys reveal that violent crime from the illegal alien community is disproportionately higher than any other segment of the population.
The presence of large numbers of illegal aliens also places extreme financial burden on Maryland taxpayers, which in Maryland, has been estimated to exceed 2 billion dollars per year. Since illegal aliens are not allowed to legally work, taxpayers must cover the cost of their medical, housing, education and food services to a substantial extent. And, when they do work illegally, they drive out competition for fair, honest wages from among the low-skill workers who are American citizens.
Where I reside in College Park, Prince George’s County is considered a “sanctuary jurisdiction” because local laws protect illegal aliens in the manner that HB1461 would impose on the entire state. Under such “sanctuary” laws, illegal aliens, when arrested by local police, are not turned over to the proper federal government (ICE) authorities, except under extreme situations. In Prince George’s County, the police are also barred from inquiring about immigration status when stopped for other lawful reasons. Sadly, this dangerous condition of large numbers of illegal aliens in Maryland is encouraged by the presence of the main office of CASA Maryland, which is a taxpayer-funded lobby group which especially supports the illegal aliens which predominate the local hispanic community.
In Prince George’s County, local taxpayers are hammered with many taxpayer burdens to support the illegal alien community. For example, it is estimated that the presence of large numbers of illegal aliens here, especially those brought into our country as “unaccompanied minors”, has resulted in 30% of the student body of the Prince George’s County public school system. While lawful taxpaying homeowners are facing the highest tax burden of any jurisdiction in the area, the sanctuary status for illegal aliens has added to this burden with the extra demands for greater government funding for services to them that makes our county an incentive for even more illegals to take up residence here.
In summary, HB1461 would make the entire state of Maryland into the same “sanctuary status” as in Prince George’s County, thus bringing to all Maryland jurisdictions the same burdens and dangers faced by citizens in Prince George’s County now. For this reason, I urged opposition to this bill as being unwise, reckless and likely unconstitutional as well. In addition, I also urged support for the bills HB1549 and HB1308 which would remove the dangerous and unhealthy conditions that exist in “sanctuary” jurisdictions like Prince George’s County. Passing these bills would thereby improve crime prevention, public safety, and lower the tax burden for all citizens here.