Rockville City Council Plans To Move Forward With Immigration Ordinance Next Month

Proposal to codify the city's existing policy of not having police enforce federal immigration laws drew divided testimony at a public hearing in March

City Council members Virginia Olney, Julie Palakovich Carr, Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton (center), City Council members Beryl Feinberg and Mark Pierzchala via City of Rockville website

The Rockville City Council is poised to take up a controversial proposed ordinance to codify its existing policy that prevents city police officers from enforcing federal immigration regulations.

City Council member Julie Palakovich Carr, the proposal’s sponsor, said Tuesday the council is scheduled to discuss and possibly adopt the measure at its June 19 meeting.

Members of the public will have an opportunity to weigh in on the ordinance at the meeting.

Palakovich Carr said the proposed legislation hasn’t been changed since more than 75 people testified about it during a public hearing on March 7. Some friendly amendments to the proposal submitted by a fellow council member may be added, she said.

“I’m feeling pretty good about it passing on the 19th,” Palakovich Carr said. “I appreciate the input we’ve gotten from Rockville residents and from across the country.”

The proposal is not a true “sanctuary” policy, according to city officials, because Rockville would continue to comply with federal immigration law by sharing with federal authorities the immigration status of individuals who are arrested.

At the public hearing, residents were divided on the measure, with a large contingent of Asian-American immigrants who legally obtained citizenship in the country speaking out against it.

Supporters urged the council to pass the ordinance to ensure that immigrants in the city feel comfortable reporting crimes to police without having to fear being arrested on federal immigration charges.

The opposition from Asian-Americans and others at the hearing was similar to the pushback that ultimately helped defeat a Howard County measure that resembled the ordinance proposed in Rockville.

This week The New York Times published a story profiling several legal immigrants in Maryland who spoke about the policies concerning immigrants being pushed in parts of the state. J.D. Ma, an attorney in Clarksville who emigrated from China, said he toiled throughout his childhood and early 20s to learn English and obtain advanced degrees to assimilate into American society while becoming a naturalized citizen and doesn’t feel it’s appropriate to protect people who entered the country illegally. Stanley Salazar, a carpenter from El Salvador who obtained a green card and lives in Silver Spring, told the Times he’s concerned about an increase in MS-13 gang activity in the county impacting his three daughters and an influx of illegal immigrants overwhelming county schools.

Rockville is still reeling from the reported rape at Rockville High School in March that received national attention. In that case, two recent Central American immigrants were accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in a school bathroom. Prosecutors have since dropped rape charges against both teens.

Palakovich Carr said despite the attention focused on Rockville, the response she has received from city residents about the ordinance “has been overwhelmingly in favor of passing the ordinance.”

“We’ve probably seen as much pushback as we’re going to get on the national level,” Palakovich Carr said. “We’ve definitely heard both sides of the issue.”