Citing the devolution of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into a “lawless paramilitary front” that has inflicted catastrophic damage upon the people of Maryland, State Delegate Adrian Boafo (D-23-Prince George’s County) will sponsor legislation that would disqualify certain sworn ICE officers from pursuing subsequent job opportunities with state law enforcement agencies.
The bill, titled the ICE Breaker Act of 2026, would apply to any individual who has or will join the agency as a sworn officer on or after the inauguration of President Trump on January 20, 2025. It would not apply to those who joined the agency prior to that date and have remained with the agency, nor would it apply to those who have served in administrative capacities.
“These are a group of people who, under the cover of masks and without proper identification, are willfully executing Donald Trump’s racist immigration policies through harassment, intimidation, and violence against innocent people,” said Boafo. “In so doing, they have taken parents from their children, left struggling families without their breadwinners, and have left countless Marylanders afraid to leave their homes.”
Boafo’s bill comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has launched the most aggressive officer recruitment campaign in its history. In an effort to achieve the Trump Administration’s goal of one million deportations by the end of 2025, DHS has more than doubled its officer ranks since July.
Meanwhile, a recent Washington Post story detailed its plans for a “wartime recruitment strategy” which, on social media, “mixes immigration raid footage with memes from action movies and video games to portray ICE’s mission as a fight against the ‘enemies … at the gates.”
“Want to deport illegals with your absolute boys?” one post says. “Are you going to cowboy up or just lie there and bleed?” says another.
Despite the apocalyptic rhetoric, data has shown that since Trump took office, more than half of Marylanders arrested have never been charged with a crime. According to the Baltimore Banner, two-thirds of the more than 700 people arrested by ICE between September 1 and October 15 have never been charged with a crime.
To meet the aggressive hiring quotas, DHS has shortened officer training periods from six months to six weeks, suspended federal hiring procedures and eliminated age caps for its recruits.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that monitors the activity of hate groups across the nation, wrote recently that “DHS has since continued to post a barrage of graphics, ranging from overt nationalist and antisemitic imagery to coded racist dog whistles about the supposed loss of white American culture, in attempts to recruit people to join ICE.”
While veteran ICE officers and administrative employees will not be covered by Boafo’s legislation, he still expects state law enforcement agencies to take the backgrounds of such applicants into consideration during the hiring process.
It is not uncommon for law enforcement agents to move between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies as opportunities become available. However, according to Boafo, those who are motivated to support this Administration’s immigration policies and principles by joining ICE do not merit positions of trust within state government.
“These people do not have the training, credentials or character to serve and protect the people of Maryland,” he said. “Their values are not ours, and they have no place collecting salaries and benefits from the taxpayers of our state,” he said.