A county council in Maryland voted to pass a bill that bans immigration enforcement officials working under the Trump administration from being able to hold government jobs.
The Montgomery County Council unanimously passed the Community Trust in County Employees Act, which prevents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) employees from holding jobs in the “police department, libraries and fire and rescue,” according to Bethesda Today.
The bill, which was sponsored by Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink (D), “applies to anyone employed” by ICE and CBP “on or after Oct. 1, 2025.”
Kristin Mink at the Montgomery County Council Office Building in Rockville, Maryland, on January 14, 2025. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
According to the outlet, “the prohibition also applies to people, including contractors or employees of other federal government agencies, who were assigned to ‘support, direct, administer, aid, or otherwise participate’ in immigration enforcement”:
The prohibition also applies to people, including contractors or employees of other federal government agencies, who were assigned to “support, direct, administer, aid, or otherwise participate” in immigration enforcement during the same period.
Anyone who fits the criteria and discloses it on a county job application would be disqualified from holding “sensitive” positions across more than a dozen divisions and departments, including the police department, libraries and fire and rescue.
“We’ve got a lawless federal administration undermining faith in the government across the board,” Mink said. “It is incumbent on us to take every step that we can to demonstrate that here, we have our residents’ backs and we are drawing lines in the sand.”
According to the outlet, “The amended version of Mink’s bill makes exceptions for whistleblowers” and people who either “worked for the federal government for six months or fewer” or worked as CBP agents in “offices focused on trade, international relations and scientific and laboratory research.”
In a post on X, Montgomery County Executive-elect Will Jawando expressed that he is “proud to cosponsor” the bill. Jawando expressed that “no Montgomery County resident should hesitate to call 911, visit a clinic, or seek help.”
“When our residents are afraid of who might show up at their door, county government cannot do its job. Proud to cosponsor the Community Trust in County Employees Act alongside CM Mink,” Jawando wrote.
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