LIVE: Montgomery County executive Marc Elrich signs immigration-related bills

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:37]I mean So we have We'll actually We'll finish.

[00:02:34]You're done.

[00:02:43]I'll solve the problem.

[00:02:57]Can you just like move one?

[00:03:16]>> Right here.

[00:03:18]That one's in line.

[00:03:21]That's it.

[00:03:37]America.

[00:04:11]Marina.

[00:04:21]I can't stop.

[00:04:43]Everybody there.

[00:04:59]Fight.

[00:05:26]I don't know.

[00:05:28]America.

[00:05:56]My be there.

[00:06:53]So you get ahead.

[00:07:12]So you can say America.

[00:07:52]Oh yeah.

[00:08:04]Hallelujah.

[00:08:18]weather.

[00:08:46]But I got that one.

[00:08:48]Do I have everybody?

[00:08:52]>> Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Mary Anderson. I'm the director of the Montgomery County Public Information Office. Thank you very much for coming.

[00:09:01]Um, I'll jump right into it and introduce County Executive Mark Elrich.

[00:09:13]So, good afternoon everybody and whoever has these excellent mics, thank you very much. I don't have to hold it and it's not next to my mouth.

[00:09:23]That's very well done. Um, I am here because just to thank the council for passing the four bills we're talking about today. Um, these bills further solidify the values that we hold as a community. And these aren't new values.

[00:09:38]These are values we've held for quite a while. These four laws are needed because the federal government is endangering our residents. And there are four the four laws are bill 328 326 which is the county values act which basically directs the county executive to develop and publish guidance for all county agencies that prohibits the use of county owned parking lots and properties as staging areas or processing locations for civil immigration enforcement. and it creates a public reporting mechanism for violations. Um, this is important because we don't want to be complicit or part of these activities and we're doing what we can to take ourselves out of a place where we are complicit. Um, the second bill is expedited bill 526 and it's the Unmask ICE Act. And this basically says that federal, state, or local law enforcement operating in Montgomery County cannot wear masks or facial coverings while on duty for very narrow exceptions. And the exceptions do not include arresting or harassing normal human beings who are trying to make their lives in McGomery County. Um, so it's certainly not for the kind of things they're using it for now. And it's I think a way of saying that transparency in this county is not optional. Third bill is the expedited bill 1326. It's the ICE out act. It's very straightforward. We're not going to be complicit in any construction of any private detention facilities within you building permits or use occupancy permits for any of these private facilities. And the fourth bill is the expedited bill 1426 of the vehicle recovery act. And this can be quite impactful because people are being stopped and when they're stopped and their cars are pulled over to the side of the road, they often wind up being towed and then the family first of all has to find out was it towed, has to find out where it was towed and then has to pay to get the car released back to him. So for families that often are struggling to begin with, we put them in further jeopardy and it's important they not be put in further jeopardy. So this bill will prevent that. And you know the the car is important. I mean how do people get to work? Many people rely on these vehicles if you have to take a kid to the doctor's appointment or to school. Um being without a car is really paralyzing in this environment. So it's important that we do this and I'm really happy and you're going to be hearing from each of the coun four council members and the council president um to talk about these bills a little bit more. Across the country, we're seeing aggressive immigration enforcement actions that are creating fear and instability in communities. And we've already seen the impact here at home.

[00:12:19]The families that that have been disrupted, parents that have been detained, children that have been left without parents, and young people who are terrified about their future. And this is not good for any of us. And in fact, it's destructive of our community.

[00:12:33]You know, we've done a lot of work here to have the immigrant community trust the government. It has been so important in public safety and all these other issues that we deal with to have people feel like if you're in this county and you're working with us publicly that you're safe and that we're here to help you, not put obstacles in your way. And it undermines that sense of safety when the federal government comes in and just blatantly disregards everything we do and basically targets people for removal. Um, while local governments do not control federal immigration policy, I only wish we did, we do have a say in how we serve the people who live here in Montgomery County, and we're going to make sure that they know that they're welcomed, that they're appreciated, and that we will do everything we can do to support them and that you have my support and you have the unanimous support of the council. And probably every decent institution in Montgomery County understands that what we're doing here is the right thing to do. So, thank you all and I will turn it over to the council president and then she will follow and then turn it over to the rest of you. Thank you.

[00:13:43]>> Thank you so much.

[00:13:48]>> Good morning everyone. I want to thank the county executive for being ho for hosting us and for being such a great partner when it comes to immigration.

[00:13:58]Um, you don't do this work by ourselves.

[00:14:00]We do it together. And when I say together, it's not just the legislative branch, but also with the community. I want to acknowledge that our friends from CASA are here, as well as many other community partners who have made this happened. Look, at the end of the day, we are still holding, we're facing a crisis in Montgomery County and nationwide on immigration. Our families are under attack. And as an immigrant myself, I take this very personal. When I became council president, uh I feel like decades ago, I have age after the budget. Um the first thing I did as council president was to introduce and have every single one of my colleague lead on the trust act.

[00:14:43]That is actually that makes a difference because it's not just about having people saying I agree with you. It's about be people holding your hand and ensuring that they're involved from the very beginning. And that's how it has happened in Montgomery County. I'm proud to live in a county when where you have elected officials that are responsible where who understand that that this is about building a caring economy and a caring society where we are supporting one another without thinking where the person was born. So with that, I'm going to call on the four colleagues who led uh particular pieces of legislation. And I think that's also beautiful having colleagues taking charge of a particular piece of legislation that deals with immigration. I think that speaks highly about Montgomery County. Shouldn't be me because I'm the immigrant. It should be all of us. And that's what happened here. So if you can please come forward.

[00:15:36]I'm going to ask council members Evan Glass, Kate Stewart, Boj Jawando, and Kristen Ming to come here and I'm going to do it in alphabetical order. So, I'm going to start with Council Member Glass uh to talk about his bill and then we're going to move to the next ones and after that we we'll do Q&A. Go ahead.

[00:15:57]>> Good afternoon, everybody. This is a big day here in Montgomery County because we are standing unified to let everybody know that our residents are safe and welcome here in Montgomery County. There is a lot of doom and gloom down in Washington DC, but here we are surrounding ourselves with love and light, making sure that every resident knows that they are welcome, safe, and seen. And when we saw what was happening up in Hagerstown, just a 100 miles up 270 where they wanted to build a privately owned detention center and round up their own neighbors, putting them in warehouses and cages, we proactively stood up and said we will not let that happen here. That's why I introduced the ICE out act, inviting all of my colleagues to co-lead that so that we stood unified with all of our neighbors. That is why I love living in Montgomery County. That is why I am proud to be a council member on this body and it is why we all need to continue standing up, speaking out, and fighting back. Thank you, Madam President.

[00:17:15]Thank you so much. Uh I'm glad to be here. I'm Council Member Will Jando, the author of the Unmask ICE Act, but I'm also not glad to be here. Um I wish we didn't have to put these pieces of legislation forward. I wish we didn't have to play the aggressive defense that we're having to play uh to protect the one-third of our residents who are foreign born. Uh if you add up the kids of immigrants, you get to 45% like me and many others in this room. Uh we shouldn't be having to do this. This is not about uh keeping people safe. The bills from the Trump administration, excuse me, the policies from the Trump administration is not about keeping people safe. Cruelty is the point. Uh they are trying to scare people. Uh they are trying to destabilize communities.

[00:18:01]And that's what's happening. They're bringing untrained people into our communities.

[00:18:06]uh and harming our residents and we have to do everything we can and that means in some cases pushing the limits of federalism. Uh we're celebrating our 250th year as a country. Uh and I think it's important and as a county uh at that time there were people who were pushing against an unjust and corrupt ruler. And unfortunately that is an American trait that we need to renew right now. Uh, and I'm proud that all of these bills uh have been introduced and have been passed unanimously uh by the council. It shows that we care about our residents uh and that we are going to fight with every tool we have. If we've got to go to court, we'll go to court because this community, our residents are worth fighting for. So, I thank you. I thank you, county executive, for signing these. I thank you, the council president, for leading us through and to all my colleagues for passing these bills.

[00:19:02]Hello, my name is Kristen Mink and I led on the County Values Act and I agree with everything that my colleagues have said and I want to give a special recognition to the advocates many of whom are here today and uh many more of whom um are not able to be here also but they have led in so many ways not just right now but for years and um we are at a point now where we have to listen to them. We have to do the things that they are calling on us to do. We have to be bold. We have to take actions. And um we have to go further than we thought we would have had to even just a few short years ago. Um I also want to recognize and appreciate um our colleagues at the state level for pushing there as well.

[00:19:47]Uh and I'm proud that we are able to take what's happening at the state level and always try to take it a little bit further because here in Montgomery County, that is who we are. We try to set the standard. We try to set the example. Uh and we try to lead the way.

[00:20:02]But um I want to really recognize that we're able to do that because of the work of the the community and the advocates uh families who are impacted and who are turning that pain and trauma into advocacy and education. Thank you so much to to CASA to Moco IRC to students fair and to so many of the the families and the students out there who have worked directly with many of us who have called on us who have come to the council building to advocate. Um we are able to be here and take these steps today because of your leadership. Thank you.

[00:20:37]>> Thank you. Um good afternoon everyone.

[00:20:40]I'm Kate Stewart. on the District 4 representative on the Montgomery County Council and I was the lead on expedited bill 14-26, the vehicle recovery act.

[00:20:50]And I am proud to stand here with my colleagues today with the county executive and everyone here in the community to strengthen the protections and to help impacted families. Um, and I am glad that we are not signing one, not two, not three, but four bills today.

[00:21:07]Each of these bills build upon each other and follow in the footsteps of the trust act that the entire council led on under the leadership of the council president. the vehicle recovery act. Um the idea for this um came from members of the community, from family members who we heard from who said that ICE was taking literally ripping their family members from their vehicles and taking them away, leaving their vehicles in the road or parking them intentionally in front of fire hydrants or fire stations so that there was no recourse except to have them towed before someone else could recover the vehicle for the family members. And then as family members are dealing with locating, reaching, trying to figure out where their loved ones were taken, at the same time they had to figure out where their vehicles were only to find out then once they located them, if they were name was not on the title that they could not get the car out of impoundment.

[00:22:14]I don't know the definition if there's a better definition of cruelty, but that to me is one of them. And I am glad that we were able to work with CASA um and all that you do in our community every day. And I do want to do a special shout out to Pablo Blank because um you pushed us, you helped us to really think about how we can help our community members and I thank you for that. to Montgomery County immigrant rights co collective MCOI IRC for really being the voice of our community members who have been taken and lifting them up and supporting them. We thank you students fair uh and the students who provided testimony and I know Emily Garcia Pena is here with us today. Thank you Emily for all your work on this. Uh and as one mother said to us, families immediately begin to face impossible hurdles just to recover their vehicles. In my case, it was overwhelming and desperate. No family should have to go through this while already dealing with the drama of detention. And today, with this expedited bill, as soon as the county executive signs it, we will be writing this wrong and helping families in our community. Thank you.

[00:23:30]And just to to end, we're going to do Q&A, but I just want to remind people how important this is. Just yesterday, there was a Latina conference here in Rockville. Over 500 Latinas were there.

[00:23:46]Number one question was, "What else can you guys do to protect our families?" I am so proud of the work we did today, but this is not the end. I'm sure that we're gonna come up with new ideas because our job is to meet reality and doing it together, but also in partnership with the Maryland General Assembly is key and I think it's another reason why Montgomery County and Maryland is such a special place to be in the in the United States. So, with that, we're going to start with a Q&A.

[00:24:16]>> So, we've got time for a couple questions from members of the media.

[00:24:21]>> Hi, Josh from Channel 7. Using conversations you had with Montgomery County Police Department, the sheriff about what their views are on this new piece of legislation. And we have to ask, they're going to be people who say that this makes the community less safe, that this won't allow people to go in and do their job. Love a response to that as well.

[00:24:45]>> I love this.

[00:24:48]>> We didn't get any push back from our people and uh this doesn't make it impossible for our people to do their job. No, nowhere in their job description is arresting immigrants who happen to be here. That's not the job of any McGomery County police officer. So, this doesn't get in the way of doing that. Doesn't prevent it. We don't harass people. It doesn't, you know, these are things they don't do. So, we're not worried about um whether or not they're going to be able to do their job. They can still do their job. We're you're not talking about people making arrests because somebody had committed a crime at crime against the community that we're protecting the community against. These are people who are going to work in the morning who are going to bring back bread money, put bread on the table and support their families. Uh if that were our job, we'd be in serious trouble and this would not be in McGomery County. Uh we're not doing that stuff and nobody's job is going to be interfered with.

[00:25:39]>> Beautiful. I would add that let me just remind people over 30% of the people who live in this county, they're immigrants just like me. We're talking about passing legislation that will fit the reality of what's happening today.

[00:25:55]Protecting everyone regardless of immigration status, where they were born, the language they speak, the faith that they have, or the person they love, is making sure that our values are part of our policies to ensure that the police department will do their job. And let me say to you, for the trust act, which was the first piece of legislation that we passed and I proudly led, the chief of police and police officers were right there next to us, behind us 100% because they understand that in order for the police to do their job, people need to feel safe and trust police officers to report crimes. So, it's the entire opposite. The police wants that.

[00:26:42]Every single piece of leg legislation that you heard today has had the fingerprint of the police department giving us their input to ensure that what we're doing here is not just a headline. And everybody here knows I am not Natalie Fe Gonzalez doesn't move legislation just to get a headline. I move legislation that makes a difference. And for that to happen, the police had to be with us. And I'm proud that they have been with us 100%.

[00:27:12]Just just one thing on that question.

[00:27:15]>> So on the mask bill in particular because there's four bills here today.

[00:27:20]Our police don't wear masks, very limited circ.

[00:27:29]Uh so the they're doing it to intimidate and actually one of the things our police have said we want residents to know who police are so that they can be comfortable reporting crimes and making our community more safe. So it's actually the opposite in that case and I think many of these bills are in line with that same theory.

[00:27:53]We're seeing intense protest, violent protests in Newark, New Jersey right now outside of a facility called Delaney Hall.

[00:28:05]ICE headquarters is 20 minutes from where we're sitting right now. What assurances can you give people that your actions today are not going to have the opposite effect of drawing attention and drawing more ICE activity into this county for ICE to make their I think we all recognize that we're going to be targeted anyway. Um when people look at, you know, the the lack of activity, it's not because of a lack of desire. It's because they had started out with 17 ICE agents in the state. Um they couldn't do the stuff they're doing in other jurisdictions. So, as they've increased ice staffing staffing, they've increased their presence. Um, they haven't yet done it here. The detention center they proposed was in Hagerstown.

[00:28:51]There may be other things they're looking at, but we didn't start with that in Montgomery County. So, I don't view this as inviting more. They're going to increase their activities.

[00:29:02]That's We know they've told us they're going to do that. So, we're not confused about what they're going to do. So, we're not going to nothing that comes here is something they weren't going to do anyway. Our goal is to make sure people feel as safe as possible and we can set as many ground rules as possible to limit their ability to carry out unfettered to the extent we can fetter them. We will try to do that.

[00:29:24]>> Yeah, I would just add one more thing to that question. Look, we are Montgomery County right next to Washington DC. We are already under attack by this administration, not just on immigration, but the fact that thousands of workers, federal workers were illegally fired, people who live here. So, immigration is just one more thing that they do. And I think at the end of the day, we as a county need to move forward in passing policies that will protect our people because that's our duty. And and we cannot do that based on fear. What if they're going to do this or what if they're going to do that? We at this point expect anything coming from the person he's who's in the White House at this moment. And this is why it's so important for people to speak up and continue advocating with justice and integrity and and be an example for an for other jurisdictions across the the nation. That's just how I'm seeing it right now. And um fear cannot have cannot be part of of how we do work in Montgomery County. And um and I'm proud of each one of my colleagues and the ones we're sitting over there who are going to come up here in a in a couple of minutes because it took every single one of us to vote for these bills and the county executive to support us. And I think um as it was mentioned in conjunction with the Maryland General Assembly, and you guys have no idea, but we do talk a lot with other counties across the state uh to ensure that whatever they're doing, if we're not doing it, maybe it makes sense for us also to do. So we're we're in that type of collaboration right now and also having conversations in Virginia too, believe it or not. So this is a time to use every single tool to ensure that we're doing the right thing defending our population. So >> anybody else?

[00:31:16]>> Any other questions from the media?

[00:31:19]>> What we're going to do I also so the issue um of ICE using parking lots to stage has been one for over a year. Um and uh we have seen that in our community and I think it's council member Mink's bill, the values act and working with members of our community um to really put that in place. Um unfortunately I think both of our districts are the ones that have been hardest hit right now um because of uh where ICE has been staging and um this has been an issue for our community members. I can tell you in the city of Tacoma Park and in the Long Branch community um what that has impacted members of the community in feeling safe um and leading people to not want to leave their homes um because of ice staging in our communities. And so I just want to say thank you to Council Member Mink and she can add to it since it was her bill.

[00:32:43]>> Thank you.

[00:32:44]Um yeah so that has been happening since before I wrote the bill and it was the reason for writing the bill. Uh we know that ice stages in parking lots, both county and and non-public parking lots.

[00:32:56]And that's why also part of the bill is uh ensuring that we are providing that example and providing that signage on the county website for private businesses to be able to use it for their parking lots as well because we would like to see that no parking lot in Montgomery County is a place that is open for ICE to stage, ICE to transfer, detainees, any of that. it needs to be as difficult as possible uh for them to take part in their uh illegal activities and harassing and terrorizing our community members as possible. So it has been happening and we need to get pieces in place to to respond to it and to prevent it. Um another important part of the bill is that it directs us to take actions physically to the infrastructure to prevent it in places where it is happening where it is feasible for us to do so. So there's there is real follow-up there and I'll just note that is of the folks who are asking I think a lot of us here like well what if what if the federal government doesn't like it like what if this is too what if this is too hard to implement those questions are not coming from the communities that are impacted they those questions are not coming from the communities that are under attack those communities are telling us do more take action and so it is up to us to listen to that and make it work and that is what we are doing here today. Thank you.

[00:34:11]>> And I I'll just say that I think all of us the I know Kristen and Kate were actually at a private facility in Dacon Park off New Hampshire Avenue where they were doing staging where residents had come out which they were doing every morning to watch ICE stage and then when I departed the residents would follow ICE and report where the res where ICE was going to help alert people to ISIS's presence in the community. So, we know this is real, not hypothetical.

[00:34:42]>> Since we've got four pieces of legislation, what I'm going to ask is for members of the council and any of the advocates that would like to come up over here, the county executive is typically he signs many copies. He's going to sign one copy of each bill.

[00:34:58]We'll stop. We'll get some photographs.

[00:35:01]He'll go on. So any of the advocates or other folks in the community, if you'd like to come up and get in photographs everybody's too much.

[00:35:48]>> Happy Monday.

[00:36:10]They don't work.

[00:36:14]>> They might not.

[00:36:16]>> This is Christmas.

[00:36:52]They don't want to Good.

[00:37:35]It >> mine.

[00:37:47]I keep them all in my office.

[00:37:54]>> One of us symbolism.

[00:38:55]Byebye.

[00:38:59]Are you going to interview him?

[00:39:01]>> No.

[00:39:12]>> And you can stand together. That's fine.

[00:39:14]Isn't this what this is about? Standing together, right?

[00:39:20]>> Let's just do it.

[00:39:21]>> You want that as a background? No.

[00:39:22]>> Oh, this is probably You're good here, Matt.

[00:39:26]1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

[00:39:32]>> One more time. One more time. Can you hear me?

[00:39:35]>> Um, what does this mean for your organization and the work you're doing here in Montgomery County?

[00:39:41]>> Uh, I mean, for us it means the world.

[00:39:43]This is a historic day for us passing protections for our immigrant communities, protections that we've been fighting for for a very long time. Very much needed. Um, and anything that we can do to really help limit collaboration and take resources away from immigration enforcement, especially to protect immigrant uh residents in Montgomery County is is a positive for our organization.

[00:40:05]>> And anything you'd like to add? I know you you spoke a little bit, but I did ask a question about, you know, there there are there are those critics who are going to say that this makes people less safe. We don't know uh you know that that the police officers and certain immigration officers who are doing their jobs can't do their jobs. So what >> is the entire opposite the police department wants people to to be able to call them when they see a crime in the community. The police the Montgomery County Police Department has been with us in every single piece of legislation that we have passed in this county on immigration and as council president I am so proud of that. Um the fact that we have four bills being signed on one day together that's is that's that has never happened before. I intentionally said to my colleagues that I am willing to work and have uh work sessions on immigration related bills during the budget. You're not supposed to work on bills during the budget. But I made the exception for immigration because this is so important and I think the police department wants communities to feel safe and that means everybody feeling comfortable calling 911 when they see something bad happening in their communities.

[00:41:16]>> And this is different from because I know the governor also signed some legislation. Yeah. Can you talk about the overlap a little bit there?

[00:41:22]>> That is the 27g which I testified on behalf of the county council. um that is uh um eliminating the agreements that count that localities have with uh with ICE. So the bill passed to eliminate those agreements. Montgomery County has never had a 287g agreement, but there were some counties that have no longer the case. So >> the fear is still there. It's fair to say. I mean, talk about that. We heard about the staging in Tacoma Park. I mean, just just bring me inside the communities that you serve and and how again, you talked about a little bit of how this helps him, but but what they're still feeling that maybe we don't hear every day on >> Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, uh, we have immigration detention that's happening every day. Organizations like CASA and other mutual aid groups are on the ground helping, uh, detained individuals, but also the families that get left behind. These protections uh, hopefully create uh, a sense of community, right? co-governance with elected officials. As noted, these are protections that our immigrant community and just all residents are pushing forward to. Um it's not going to stop every single detention. Um but what it will do hopefully is limit right that potential collaboration will limit the resources that they can use. Most importantly, sending a message to our migrant community that they are seen, they are loved, and that we're doing everything possible to help limit that collaboration.

[00:42:49]>> Okay. Anything else you want to add?

[00:42:50]>> I think that's it. Yeah. Tell me your name.

[00:42:52]>> Alex. Alex Vasquez, director of organizing for Kasa.

[00:42:55]>> Va.

[00:42:56]>> Vaz. Q.

[00:42:58]>> Q E. Yeah.

[00:42:59]>> All right. Let me know your name. Thank you.

[00:43:00]>> Thank you. You, too.

[00:43:16]>> I got friends.

[00:43:18]I got friends.

[00:43:29]This doesn't look like that yet.

[00:44:20]I'm sorry.

[00:45:07]This is Yeah, I know.