Ahead of hearings scheduled for the week of February 24, Freedom for Immigrants has submitted a letter to the office of Maryland State Delegate Vaughn Stewart in support of HB 677/SB850, the Dignity Not Detention Act.

Modeled after California’s SB29 — which Freedom for Immigrants co-sponsored and helped draft — Maryland’s bill would: improve transparency in contracting for the purposes of immigration detention, prevent the expansion of immigration detention in Maryland, and ensure that Maryland localities are not complicit in maintaining the abusive and profit driven private prison industry.

This bill is especially needed now, given that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is actively seeking to expand its detention apparatus in Maryland. With foreign-born residents making up 15 percent of the state’s population, Maryland cannot risk increased detention and enforcement in its communities.

Read the letter below: