All people, no matter where they were born or what language they speak, should be able to live safely and without fear. But right now, federal agents are assaulting, arresting, and disappearing immigrant Marylanders in order to terrorize communities and sow division so that they can cling to power. We cannot allow our state to participate in or enable these brutal assaults.

The command that we welcome the stranger is the most-repeated mitzvah in the entire Torah. Our sacred texts insist that we turn our own historical experiences of being outsiders in many foreign lands into compassion for those experiencing the same today. As Jews and as human beings, we are obligated to make sure that those of us who were not born in our community are as safe as those of us who were.

Alongside our partners at We Are CASA and others, we have successfully fought for meaningful protections for immigrants in Maryland, including data privacy, ending ICE detention participation at the state and local levels, healthcare access, and more. We are proud to have built on these previous wins during the 2026 legislative session through the passage of several key protections for immigrant communities. This included prohibiting formal 287(g) agreements that allow local law enforcement to act as ICE agents, passing the Data Privacy Act to ensure federal agencies don’t have warrantless access to personal data of Maryland residents, and passing the Community Trust Act to prevent informal collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE that erodes trust in public safety and puts Maryland immigrant communities in harms way.

These state-level protections will help ensure that nobody, regardless of immigration status, has to fear deportation or family separation when they seek to participate fully in our society. While these are momentous wins, the work continues to resist attacks by the federal government on communities throughout our region.

For questions about this work or to get involved, please contact our lead Maryland organizer on Immigrant Justice, Ioana.

Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) works in coalition and partnership with grassroots and advocacy groups to build and win issue campaigns. Our approach is based on our commitment to racial equity and dismantling systems of oppression, which includes centering the leadership of our most directly impacted partners and being as transparent as possible about our agenda selection process. When we select campaigns, we keep in mind our goals of organizing and mobilizing our base, strengthening coalitions we are part of, and shifting the balance of power in our local communities. This year we have three full scope of work campaigns and we will engage in other campaigns in a more limited way.

• For more information about our other full scope of work campaigns, click here.
• For more information about our agenda setting process for the 2026 state legislative session, click here.