Maryland should not cooperate with ICE | READER COMMENTARY

The idea of Maryland not cooperating with federal immigration agents has a historical precedent (“End law enforcement cooperation with ICE,” March 10). When national liquor prohibition became a federal law in 1920, Maryland bitterly opposed it and did not enact a state prohibition law. The federal government sent agents throughout the country to enforce the law but the Baltimore police, like most Americans, refused to cooperate with the agents and enforce the law. As a result, liquor was widely available, even in the leading hotels. Bootlegging and its many crimes and murders did not occur.

I urge the governor to inform federal immigration agents that Maryland is a state with its own laws, police, courts and prisons. It is fully capable of handling legal issues involving immigrants in the state without federal involvement.

William G. Rothstein, Baltimore

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