Media Advisory

Press Conference During Final Week of Session in Annapolis 

ANNAPOLIS, MD – With just days left in the Maryland legislative session, immigrant community members and activists demand action from the Senate President Bill Ferguson and Senate leadership to move bold immigration reform bills. Speakers will outline how both HB23, the Driver Privacy Act as well as HB16, the Dignity Not Detention Act – which can incorporate language from the Maryland Trust Act for stronger protections – are stuck in the Senate. After years of strong organizing and advocacy, the Maryland House drove these advances forward, yet Chairman Smith has still not moved them in the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

WHAT:  Press conference at Lawyers Mall 

WHEN: April 7, 2021 @ 9:30 am

WHERE: Lawyers Mall, 100 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401. Livestreamed here.

WHO: CASA immigrant activists hurt by Maryland’s collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allied organizations, and religious leaders, including:

  • William Garcia, who was pulled over for using his phone and held for ICE
  • Jose Villalta, who was helping his aunt cut down a dead tree at his home in Rockville before Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources police turned him over to ICE
  • Matt Hornbeck, principal of Hampstead Hill Academy, a Baltimore elementary-middle school with 350 Latino students out of a total 800 students, some of whose parents have been targeted by ICE
  • Certain legislators and bill sponsors of critical immigration reform bills will be in attendance. 
  • Invited partner organizations, such as ACLU of Maryland, NAACP, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Catholic Charities

RSVP: For more information on the action, please contact Jossie Flor Sapunar at 240-706-2624.

VISUALS: Speakers will offer remarks while community members wave colorful and creative signs. Immigrants who have been detained or stopped by police will share their personal story.

###