The Montgomery County Council in Maryland voted unanimously to approve a measure that blocks people who worked for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection from holding certain county government jobs.
The measure, called the Community Trust in County Employees Act, applies to anyone employed by ICE or CBP on or after October 1, 2025. It also reaches contractors or employees of other federal agencies who were assigned to “support, direct, administer, aid, or otherwise participate” in immigration enforcement during that same window, according to Bethesda Today.
Under the bill, applicants who fit that description and disclose it on a county job application would be barred from “sensitive” positions across more than a dozen county divisions and departments, including the police department, libraries, and fire and rescue.
The legislation was sponsored by Councilmember Kristin Mink, a Democrat. “We’ve got a lawless federal administration undermining faith in the government across the board,” Mink said. “It is incumbent on us to take every step that we can to demonstrate that here, we have our residents’ backs and we are drawing lines in the sand.”
The council amended the original bill to carve out exceptions for whistleblowers, people who worked for the federal government for six months or fewer, and CBP agents who worked in offices focused on trade, international relations, or scientific and laboratory research.
Montgomery County Executive-elect Will Jawando, who cosponsored the bill, defended it in a post on X. “When our residents are afraid of who might show up at their door, county government cannot do its job. Proud to cosponsor the Community Trust in County Employees Act alongside CM Mink,” he wrote. Jawando added that “no Montgomery County resident should hesitate to call 911, visit a clinic, or seek help.”
The vote took place at the Montgomery County Council Office Building in Rockville, the county seat.
Add comment