Maryland Governor Uses Obama’s Executive Amnesty Against Amnesty Advocates

Governor Larry Hogan (R-Maryland)

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has shown some muscle against illegal immigration in the Old Line State, particularly in cases where a violent crime has occurred, despite the two-to-one Democratic voter registration in the state and previous Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley’s relentless policies to promote illegal aliens and transform them into “new Americans”.

Departing from the previous governor’s policy of non-cooperation, Hogan informed Marylanders that he would change course and comply with the federal government and detain illegal aliens for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The Washington Post reports:

Immigration advocates in Maryland are criticizing a decision by Gov. Larry Hogan to notify federal immigration officials when an illegal immigrant targeted for deportation is released from the state-run Baltimore City Detention Center.

Advocates consider Hogan’s stance to be a departure from the policy of his predecessor, Democrat Martin O’Malley, who last year joined other elected officials in refusing requests from the Obama administration to coordinate with federal law enforcement whenever a detainee was being released.

With political savvy determined to thwart amnesty proponents and coalesce support for his decision, Hogan’s office responded:

Doug Mayer, a spokesman for Hogan, said the governor is simply complying with a request made by the Obama administration — and has made no effort to reverse the driver’s license program or Maryland’s so-called “Dream Act,” the legislation that provides in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants.

“We are not making immigration an issue here,” Mayer said. “This is not an immigration issue. It’s a public safety issue.”

When pro-amnesty group CASA de Maryland protested outside Governor Hogan’s mansion, his office released another statement:

The Baltimore City Detention Center is simply complying with a request from the Obama administration in regard to individuals who have already been detained. If CASA has concerns about Obama’s Priority Enforcement Program, I would recommend they take those concerns to the White House.

Priority Enforcement comes in light of President Obama’s executive amnesty in late November last year, when he announced to the United States that he would defer deportation and permit five million illegal aliens to remain in the country who had not broken any other laws.

How ironic that a Republican governor in a deep blue state is enforcing the law and enhances public safety all while rebuffing critics by referencing the President’s own unconstitutional order to expand immigration and benefits to illegal aliens.