Seventeen Maryland county sheriffs have joined together to sue the state over a new law that gives sanctuary to illegals that the law officers say will make Maryland a more dangerous place to live.

Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler, of Harford County, Maryland, and sixteen other Maryland sheriffs, have joined with the  in a lawsuit filed in a federal court to block the state’s newly passed “Community Trust Act” (SB0791).

“It is an intentional state-mandated obstruction of public safety,” Sheriff Gahler said about the new law. “This law deliberately ties the hands of our dedicated local deputies, police officers and correctional officers. It forbids us from sharing information with federal authorities.”

“This issue, ladies and gentlemen, is not about politics. It’s about public safety. And, we believe this law directly hampers our ability to effectively safeguard the boundaries of our respective counties,” Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli added.

The new law passed in the House of Delegates 92-37 and in the state Senate 32-15 this week and became law without Democrat Gov. Wes Moore’s signature.

The Community Trust Act bans local cooperation with federal immigration officials and maintains that a felony conviction or a judicial warrant must be presented by immigration officers before local law enforcement can communicate with ICE about a suspect’s immigration status.

The lawsuit filed by the group of county sheriffs says that the state’s new law violates federal authority to implement legal immigration policy and is a violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It also forces state law enforcement to break federal law by harboring illegal migrants.

In its press release on the lawsuit, FAIR says that “Maryland’s sanctuary law thereby makes it impossible to obey both federal law and state law, it presents a textbook case of conflict preemption.”

“Sanctuary laws are not only dangerous to our communities, but they are also flatly unconstitutional,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of FAIR. “Our nation must speak with one voice when dealing with the national problem of illegal immigration, and the federal government must be able to pursue a unified policy, or the supremacy of federal law is in name only. The aim of this lawsuit is to allow Maryland sheriffs to go on keeping their communities safe by striking down this law’s blatant interference with crucially important national objectives.”

Several other sheriffs also chimed in on the lawsuit and the new law.

“This is pathetic that our governor, our General Assembly, they have turned their backs on all Marylanders — partisan politics over public safety,” said Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis.

“Now, when their sentences are up or their trials are adjudicated, I’ve got to open my doors and allow these criminals (go), which includes defendants of second-degree rape, sexual abuse of minors, drug trafficking, aggravated assault and sexual solicitation of minors,” Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins.

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