Democratic members of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted Tuesday, 8-3 along party lines, to advance a bill that would end formal local agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A separate bill also passed by the committee, 7-4, would prevent officers from wearing face coverings while on duty.

“This is a huge day for our committee for advancing two pieces of legislation to protect our immigrant communities, to protect and provide for public safety and transparency,” Sen. Will Smith, a Montgomery County Democrat and chair of the committee, said to The Baltimore Sun after the votes. “It’s a significant step forward for us to protect our values.”

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore City Democrat, said Tuesday morning that the two bills could be considered on the Senate floor as early as Thursday.

The House Judiciary Committee also heard the House version of the bill on immigration enforcement agreements on Tuesday afternoon.

The bills come amid intense scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration following the killing of two citizen protestors in Minnesota by immigration officials.

“It is absolutely horrific, and it’s a time where everybody needs to stand up and be clear that we will not partner with an organization that operates like this and is literally killing American citizens in the streets,” Ferguson said.

Eight Maryland counties have so-called 287(g) agreements, in which correctional officers agree to inform ICE if they arrest someone who is believed to be in the country illegally and hold that person for an additional 48 hours to allow ICE to take custody. The participating counties are Allegany, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, St. Mary’s and Washington.

Democrats, including Sen. Will Smith who leads the Senate committee, have said that these agreements too often harm people not yet convicted of any crimes or people who have committed minor crimes, such as traffic violations. Smith has said the agreements make local law enforcement and jails a “force multiplier” in the broader federal government’s deportation push.

Sheriffs in jurisdictions with 287(g) agreements have told The Baltimore Sun that the agreements increase public safety and contain immigration enforcement to jails, instead of out bringing it out into communities, as is happening in Minnesota.

“How can you vote with a clear conscience to end a program statewide that will potentially bring harm to communities you want to protect? It doesn’t make sense to me,” Frederick County Chuck Jenkins said Tuesday afternoon during the House hearing. “I’m afraid if this bill passes, of what you’re going to see in this state. I know what’s coming. This is going to boomerang. You’re going to see ICE making street apprehensions all over the place, everywhere. That’s not what we want to see. None of us wants to see that.”

The second bill passed by the committee would ban all law enforcement officers, not just those involved with immigration enforcement, from wearing face coverings while on duty in Maryland. There are exceptions in the bill for undercover work, religious garments and protective gear.

The bill passed with a significant amendment from the committee chair, changing the requirement to not wear face coverings from a criminal to a civil violation, punishable by a $1,500 fine. The amendment also made the bill, if passed, a uniform policy for all law enforcement agencies operating in the state instead of the original model policy framework.

Immigrant advocacy groups and Democrats have argued that officers wearing masks can make holding officers accountable more difficult, increasing fear of law enforcement officers. Sen. Mary-Dulany James, a Harford County Democrat, voted against the face coverings ban on Tuesday night because she is concerned it could elevate tensions between local law enforcement enforcing the ban and federal officials.

Republicans on the Senate committee have argued that masks are needed because law enforcement officers and their families are at risk if their photos are posted online, especially given public backlash against federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Sen. William Folden, a Frederick County Republican, argued ahead of the committee vote that the state does not have authority to dictate policy to the federal government and that the state would need to educate federal law enforcement officers if the law passed so they do not unintentionally violate the law.

This week, a video surfaced of the ICE processing facility in Baltimore, showing cramped sleeping quarters. A spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore’s office on Tuesday called the conditions seen in the footage — about three dozen men packed into a small room — “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he asked for a tour of the facility and was, again, denied access. And at the State House, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said the footage justified state Democratic lawmakers’ push to ban 287(g) agreements with ICE.

“It just feels like pure evil is … part of the operation,” Ferguson told media at the State House on Tuesday. “It’s just not how we should be functioning as a country.”

Two people were injured after ICE agents shot at a van moving towards them on Christmas Eve in Glen Burnie — one person injured was shot in the van and the other was injured in a crash. Ten people were detained by ICE in the Annapolis area the day before the start of the Maryland General Assembly Session in January, according to the federal agency.

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