The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Maryland and Attorney General Anthony Brown on Thursday over the state’s sanctuary policies, arguing they unlawfully obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
The complaint, filed July 9 in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, targets Maryland’s Community Trust Act, a 2026 law that broadly prohibits state and local law enforcement from holding individuals for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a judicial warrant and limits how much local authorities can communicate with federal immigration officials. The federal government is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to block the law, arguing it is preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Federal immigration officers merely enforce the laws that our Nation’s elected representatives in Congress passed, reflecting the will of We the People,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “When sanctuary jurisdictions enact laws to shield illegal aliens from federal law enforcement, it is not merely federal law that is violated, but the voices of everyday American voters silenced.”
The complaint alleges Maryland’s refusal to cooperate with federal authorities has already had concrete operational consequences, citing two specific incidents: a Worcester County Jail refused an ICE pickup in May, and a Montgomery County council member publicly criticized a sheriff’s office for releasing a detainee to ICE. The department said facilities have refused to facilitate transferring individuals to federal custody even when presented with routine detainers.
“The American people are ultimately the ones who suffer when states pass these irresponsible sanctuary policies,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Civil Division.
The Community Trust Act passed the Maryland legislature by a wide margin earlier this year and does not wholesale prohibit cooperation with federal immigration agents — it identifies areas where state prisons must still collaborate with ICE. Brown’s office has issued guidance to state and local law enforcement on where cooperation is required. Brown did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.
The Maryland suit is the 21st filed by the Civil Division as part of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s directive to identify state and local laws that impede federal operations. Similar suits have been filed against Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois and New York.