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Community members packed a Montgomery County Council meeting to speak in favor of a bill that would codify policies to limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Business owners, high school students and civic and religious leaders were among those who packed the Montgomery County Council chambers on Tuesday, telling the 11-member council to pass the TRUST Act.
The bill would put into law current county policies designed to limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. The bill would also codify the county’s policy of providing services to all residents, regardless of immigration status.
Council President Natali Fani-González, who has spoken publicly of her own deportation proceedings, warned those in attendance at the outset, “Please, do not clap, do not boo, do not interrupt any of the speakers.”
With that, she invited the members of the first panel to testify.
While the bill is restricted to Montgomery County, the recent killing of Renee Nicole Good, the 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed in her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, was mentioned several times.
Montgomery County Assistant Chief Administrator Earl Stoddard referred to ICE enforcement broadly.
“These actions have made the job of local law enforcement harder and, frankly, undermined confidence in government nationwide,” Stoddard said.
He said the expedited bill under council consideration would provide for “the limited circumstances when the county receives an immigration detainer to” the county’s department of corrections for an individual who’s been convicted of a crime of violence, “or other serious breaches of the public trust.”
In those cases, the department could notify ICE prior to releasing that individual, but the county would not hold those individuals past their mandated release date.
“This strikes the appropriate balance to promote public safety for all,” Stoddard said.
Nicole Isern, who explained she was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and now works as an educator in Montgomery County, became emotional as she described how school social workers or other staff members accompany students to medical appointments in D.C., “so parents can remain hidden and safe.”
“We say we want our children to thrive. We want them to read on grade-level and excel in math. In what world does that happen when children are grieving the disappearance of their parent?” Isern asked tearfully.
Immediately following Isern’s testimony, Stacey Sauter, a member of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee, turned on her microphone at the witness table to speak.
“It’s hard to follow,” she said, referring to Isern’s testimony, “especially when you’re here to testify against the bill.”
“To be clear, immigrants are already protected by important civil rights. What is too often overlooked are the civic rights of taxpayers,” Sauter told the council.
In his testimony, small business owner Omar Lazo said he’s a member of the county’s Latino Restaurant Association. Lazo said the fear of immigration enforcement actions has a profound impact on small businesses like his own.
“What is happening in our immigrant communities is not theoretical. It’s painful, personal and deeply destabilizing,” he said.
Lazo said that the “entire local economy suffers” when the immigrant community is worried about the impacts of enforcement actions.
“I’ve talked to tax preparers who are afraid right now, because people are afraid to file taxes. I’ve spoken with beer and wine store owners, watching their sales collapse,” he said.
Seneca Valley High School student Mark Antony Briseno told the council he is the “proud son of two undocumented immigrants who have lived” in the county for nearly 20 years.
“My parents mean everything to me,” he said. “I never imagined that anything could happen that would separate us.”
But the morning of Dec. 17, his father was taken into ICE custody.
“This is not protecting the United States,” Briseno said. “This is tearing families apart.”
The next step for the expedited bill is a work session before the council’s Public Safety and Government Operations and Fiscal Policy committees on Jan. 28. The bill would then be forwarded to the full county council for a vote at a future council session.
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Kate Ryan
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