Maryland, not heavily engaged with ICE enforcement at the battleground scale of Minnesota and some other states, is nevertheless ramping up its defenses. Trump's wholly vindictive assault against Minneapolis-St. Paul is showing signs of wear but state and national officials -- including some in Congress -- are still trying to temper the damage by legal means. Judges, however, are making long lists of the number of legal rulings that the mock-warriors of DHS are routinely ignoring. Congress is near-deadlock on funding the Department of Homeland Security unless Democratic requirements for controlling ICE tactics get some satisfaction. If it gets more intense we might have to do this twice a week. It's News You Can Use, but don't look away too fast or you might miss something.

HERE IN MARYLAND

 Ban On Immigration Partnership Would Make Maryland A Target For ICE Street Arrests, Frederick County Sheriff Says -- In a move that could anger Trump, Democrats in the state’s legislature propose ending a program that allows local police, like Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement identify undocumented immigrants. Capital News Service

Nursing Homes Inspections Almost Caught Up, But Unlicensed Assisted Living Poses New Challenge: State health officials reported tremendous progress Thursday on a backlog of nursing home inspections, going from 130 cases last year to just 10 today, about half the time they thought it would take to clear the backlog. But in the same House Health Committee briefing on oversight of senior living facilities, officials said they face a rising challenge keeping track of assisted living facilities, many of which are unlicensed and undetected until a complaint is filed. “We’re in a much stronger place than we were a couple years ago, even last session, but still have a lot to do,” said Dr. Meg Sullivan, Maryland’s deputy director of public health services, in testimony to the committee. Maryland Matters.

Moore Pushes State Agencies To Improve Response To Audits: After a string of damaging audits for state agencies, Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday directed his Cabinet secretaries to enhance their responses to repeat problematic findings by auditors. Maryland Matters.

Ho Co Says No To Private Immigration Detention Centers: The Howard County Council unanimously voted Thursday night to block a private immigrant detention center nearing completion in Elkridge. Baltimore Banner.

Moore Blasts Hagerstown ICE Facility As Howard Exec Blocks Elkridge Plan: Gov. Wes Moore became the latest to criticize a potential ICE detention facility in Hagerstown on Friday, expressing “grave concerns” about the project in an open letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The letter came the same day that Moore gathered with other state, federal and local officials in Howard County, where County Executive Calvin Ball signed emergency legislation to block the conversion of a building in an Elkridge office park into a privately run detention center for immigrants. Maryland Matters.

General Assembly Special Elections Could Be On The Horizon: A measure that would require special elections be held at the same time as the regular statewide primary and general elections to fill Maryland General Assembly vacancies could finally get passed after 18 years since its first introduction, state lawmakers told The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore Sun.

Senate Bill Targets Guns That Can Be Converted To Automatic Weapons: Supporters say legislation is long overdue, opponents say bill targets responsible gun owners Maryland Matters. 

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

With electricity bills rising, some states consider new data center laws -- Leaders in at least a dozen states have targeted data centers with separate, higher electric rates. Stateline Daily

Also New York is the latest state to consider a data-center pause  WIRED

Trump’s calls to ‘nationalize’ elections have state, local election officials bracing for tumult -- Some election leaders are preparing for the possibility of federal pressure. Stateline Daily

What do ICE agents say about their own mission and leadership on their own social media “where agents complain about their jobs”? See WIRED’s story: ‘Forum users joined in to echo the original poster’s complaints and voice their concerns about the direction of the agency. “Led by some of the worst leadership I’ve ever witnessed, from the local level all the way up to the national stage, this agency has managed to turn a righteous mission into a complete clown show,” added another user who joined the forum in October 2015.’

In setback for Trump, Congress in spending law rejects call to axe Education Department -- WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s attempts to dramatically slash funding for the U.S. Department of Education amid a broader push to dismantle the agency hit a major roadblock this week in the form of bipartisan approval of a spending law that gives the department a small raise. The president signed a measure that funds the department at $79 billion this fiscal year — roughly $217 million more than the agency’s fiscal year 2025 funding levels and a whopping $12 billion above what Trump wanted. 

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Here’s the weekly DC report from Megan E, the federal affairs director for Progressive Maryland’s national affiliate, People’s Action

Hi People’s Action! 

I’m very excited to report that Analilia Mejia, the co-executive director of Popular Democracy, is slated to win the Democratic primary, in NJ 11’s Congressional district in a special election to replace the incumbent, Mikie Sherrill, who became governor. The race has not been called yet but Analilia is up by just under 900 votes. Congratulations to People’s Action member NJ Citizen Citizen Action who endorsed Mejia and worked on the race. People’s Action Power also endorsed Mejia. Analilia was not expected to beat the other establishment democratic candidates who had more money and name recognition. The district used to be red before Sherrill won in the early Trump years. A political commentator in this article notes that Democrats think they need to run a moderate in Republican areas but actually, Democrats surrounded by Republicans tend to become more progressive. AIPAC spent against the frontrunner Malinowski and may run attack ads against Analilia in the general election. She also has to run for another primary in the spring for the November election. 

Speaking of APAIC, the American Prospect reports on AIPAC’s funding through PAC shells in 3 Democratic Congressional primaries in Illinois. 

With Trump’s approval ratings in the toilet and outrage over ICE’s violence and killing of peaceful bystanders, Trump is upping his threats to election integrity. Last week, Trump spent a lot of time lying about the elections and also talking about “nationalizing” the elections as he sees that the Republicans are doing poorly in special elections and Democrats are likely to take back the House in the midterms. According to the Constitution, states run the federal elections so anything he would do would likely be illegal. Then there was an FBI raid on an Atlanta area elections office in which Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present.  Her job is to focus on foreign threats to the nation so she had no business being there. The FBI seized ballot machines and ballots.  A Trump-appointed federal judge has demanded that the administration provide the documents justifying this raid by tomorrow. People’s Action Institute is working on efforts to protect our midterm elections. More on this to come. 

DHS Shutdown I don’t have much new to report on this Friday’s impending Homeland Security shutdown. Democrats have offered legislative text of their demands over the weekend. Republicans are refusing to discuss them and a shutdown at the end of the week is likely. [Leader Thune has prepared another kick-the-can patch on DHS, several accounts agree].

The Senate is supposed to be on recess next week so we’ll see if they are held over the weekend or next week. [POLITICO says the frontline battle will probably be over unmasking the ICE goons].

“The SAVE America Act. House Republican leaders also plan to have the SAVE America Act on the floor this week.The SAVE America Act is a citizenship test and voter ID law for federal elections. The legislation, pushed primarily by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), would mandate proof of U.S. citizenship when voting in federal elections, meaning REAL ID-compliant identification cards or passports. It also requires states to remove undocumented immigrants from voter rolls.” It won’t pass the Senate. 

In solidarity, 

Megan