After holding the title for running the deadliest detention center during the COVID-19 pandemic, Immigration Centers of America was vying for the contract to build a new, for-profit facility in Maryland. This bill’s victory will stop that from happening, saving countless undocumented immigrants’ lives.
But this is a Black issue – and here’s why.
Maryland has historically been, and continues to be, one of the places where Black people immigrate the most. 1/5 of Maryland immigrants are African. Many are Caribbean and Afro-Latinx.
In other words, the state where they wanted to put a private immigration prison is one of the Blackest states they could’ve picked.
Now, because of this bill, police won’t be allowed to stop, ask, or even detain Black people about their immigration status. And, of course, Maryland’s new detention center will be out of the question.
The bill passed so well through the General Assembly that the majority would be eligible to override Republican Governor Hogan’s veto. A victory!
Like the community members that have come together to create and advocate for this bill, we need to continue to challenge this system that criminalizes people for wanting a better life for themselves. Now more than ever, with tax-dollar-funded prisons and detention centers serving as hot beds for COVID-19, these ICE expansions cannot happen!