“We are all engaged in a great battle to protect our democracy, our constitution, our rule of law.” Those words opened a statement from U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen that he wrote to constituents meeting in Greenbelt Saturday, April 19. A campaign staffer read the statement aloud in place of Van Hollen, who had just arrived back in the U.S. the day before the meeting.
He had been in El Salvador where, on April 17, he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Prince George’s County resident who was mistakenly deported by President Donald Trump’s administration to the Terrorism Confinement Center, the notorious mega-prison built under Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
Van Hollen’s words were shared during State Senator Alonzo T. Washington’s annual post-legislative session meeting held in the Greenbelt Library, where over a dozen local and state officials and an audience of about 100 residents were present. Washington also used the meeting to hold a rally to stop the maglev after he concluded the legislative review. (See the April 24 issue.)
Washington thanked Van Hollen for his statement and his efforts in pushing for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. which both Trump and Bukele have repeatedly refused in spite of the Supreme Court ruling that he should be brought back to the U.S. Van Hollen said that Trump, with Bukele’s help, is “tearing down the due process that is core to our country,” and warned that his defiance of court orders “is only going to lead to further despair for us all.”
“I will continue to fight tooth and nail to defend every Marylander from Trump and Musk’s law-breaking administration,” Van Hollen wrote, a pledge that was echoed by the lawmakers present at the meeting.
Immigrant Rights
One such lawmaker, State Delegate Nicole Williams, shared bills that she and her colleagues, including Delegate Ashanti Martinez, chair of the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus, had fought to pass for that very purpose. “We believe in due process here in the State of Maryland,” Williams said.
One bill that passed successfully designates certain places such as schools, libraries, churches and hospitals as sensitive locations. The bill also directs the attorney general to guide those institutions on how they should respond to deportation efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at said locations.
Another bill that passed restricts the ability of the federal government to obtain personal data from state agencies by requiring them to first provide a warrant.
Williams noted that other bills failed to pass, such as one banning 287(g) agreements in Maryland, which allow local and state law enforcement to act on behalf of ICE. Martinez said that they’re building momentum to pass the bill in the future.
Martinez also said, “We had to do everything that we could as a state within our rights to protect our neighbors,” referring to immigrants, who make up about 17 percent of Maryland’s population, numbering over a million in 2023, according to the Comptroller of Maryland. “We had to make sure that our policy reflected people.”
FBI Headquarters
Officials at the meeting said they had to fight Trump on other issues, too, such as the relocation of the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt, which is in jeopardy since Trump said he is “not going to let that happen.” Instead, he wants to build another FBI building in Washington, D.C.
“We are still fighting tooth and nail here in the state for the FBI headquarters. We have to,” Washington said. They have to because, to Washington, the proposal is fleeting – “a once in a generation opportunity.”
Washington noted that the state has already allocated $200 million just for infrastructure improvements around the site of the proposed headquarters, and there is still work to be done.
“This is our moment in time to make a significant difference in our community,” he said.
Prince George’s County Council Member Ingrid Watson stood behind Washington’s rally to fight for the headquarters in Greenbelt, but also addressed additional federal policies that carry significant local impacts.
Other Challenges
Watson emphasized that the state budget, with a deficit of about $3 billion, is the most difficult that the state has faced in years, but the challenges it poses are compounded by executive orders from the Trump administration. She said federal layoffs could have long-term impacts on the tax base and economic stability of the county, which is home to nearly 73,000 federal workers. “We are looking at the prospect of layoffs and closures across the state, all by the federal government,” including NASA Goddard, Watson said.
Van Hollen wrote in his statement that he and his colleagues are “working to defend federal workers from illegal firings, defend Medicaid and Social Security from outrageous budget cuts and preserve the rule of law in the face of Trump’s tyrannical attacks.”
Will Hammann is a student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism writing for the Greenbelt News Review
