Two days\nbefore the Maryland Legislature was set to adjourn early because of the\ncoronavirus pandemic, 50 faith-based organizations and places of worship sent a\nletter to Maryland\u2019s House and Senate leadership urging them to pass sanctuary\nlegislation before adjourning their session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the letter\u2019s signatories<\/a>, this legislation is critical at this juncture and legislators have a \u201cmoral obligation\u201d to pass sanctuary legislation to \u201cmake hospitals safer for immigrants and to build community trust…for all\u201d during this coronavirus crisis.\u00a0 They claim that illegal aliens are afraid to seek treatment when they are ill which will have an impact on the public health and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a rule,\nthe U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not engage in immigration\nenforcement at sensitive locations like hospitals, schools, or places of\nworship unless there are exigent circumstances. \nAnd, it\u2019s not the hospitals\u2019 practice to notify immigration officials\nwhen they treat patients who are in the country illegally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act<\/a> requires all hospitals to provide medical treatment to any individual who arrives at the emergency department.\u00a0 This well-known fact is clearly evidenced by the nearly $30 billion<\/a> in federal and state medical costs spent annually on those in our country illegally.\u00a0 This clearly demonstrates that illegal aliens have no fear of accessing free healthcare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If these faith leaders truly cared about the safety of their congregations and their communities, they would not push Maryland legislators to pass sweeping sanctuary legislation that goes beyond existing practices that already protect people who require critical health care. \u00a0Since Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich issued the \u201cPromoting Community Trust\u201d<\/a> executive order in July 2019, the county has experienced a crime wave with nine sexual assaults between July and October and two alleged rapes of 11-year-old girls in the first two months of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n