Five Maryland jurisdictions currently have contracts with ICE, and two Maryland universities have consulting and training contracts. While activists across the state are seeking to end these agreements, officials say the revenue is worth it.
In Maryland, advocates educate immigrants about the census
There won’t be a citizenship question on the 2020 census, but immigrants are still afraid of sharing information with the government. In Maryland, immigrant-advocates are knocking on doors to tell residents why the census matters.
Former Baltimore mayor pleads guilty to four counts
Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh pleaded guilty Thursday to four of the 11 counts against her related to the sales of “Healthy Holly” children’s books.
Former Baltimore mayor indicted on federal fraud charges
Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh fraudulently enriched herself, funded her mayoral campaign and sought to advance her political career through the sale of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books, according to a federal grand jury indictment released Wednesday.
Immigrants, led by Jamaicans, slow Baltimore population loss
Steve McMurray owns what some say is the best Jamaican restaurant in Baltimore, doubling as an informal cultural center for what the U.S. Census reported as the city’s largest immigrant group. Baltimore is rapidly losing people, but immigrants continue to move there, helping to stem the population loss.
Immigrant advocates rally in Baltimore before crucial Supreme Court case
Immigrants’ rights advocates rallied in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status programs Nov. 8, 2019, in front of Baltimore City Hall. The rally represented a stop near the end of a march from the Statue of Liberty in New York City to the Supreme Court in Washington ahead of a Tuesday hearing that could decide the fate of the programs. The “Home Is Here” march began Oct. 26. Participants, many of them DACA beneficiaries, walked the whole way, sleeping in allies’ homes and church basements.
Maryland groups condemn federal refugee admissions reduction
Maryland organizations criticized as “cynical” and “astounding” the Thursday decision by the Trump Administration to decrease the national refugee admissions ceiling to its lowest level ever. The cap for fiscal 2020 will be 18,000 refugees, down from the ceiling of 110,000 set by President Obama in 2017, according to a news release from the State Department. The decision also allows cities and states to opt out of accepting refugees.
Annual cocaine overdose deaths on rise in Maryland
Despite some good news from the first quarter of this year, cocaine-related deaths have skyrocketed annually in Maryland since 2015, with nearly half of those occurring in Baltimore. The vast majority of those deaths — 82%, according to the Maryland Department of Health — involved fentanyl, a powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid.
Health risks rise with the temperature
For people with chronic health conditions, heat and humidity is more than a summer nuisance.
Global warming will be costly and neighborhoods must do more
Are government leaders and residents ready to act?