There is a dangerous idea gaining ground in Maryland, and it should alarm anyone who cares about fairness, equal opportunity, and the rule of law.
A proposal by Delegate Adrian Boafo would bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents from holding law enforcement positions within Maryland state government if they joined ICE after January 20, 2025, the date President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Let that sink in.
Not because of misconduct.
Not because of qualifications.
Not because of performance.
But because of when they were hired and who was President at the time.
This is not policy. It is political discrimination.
This proposal would punish men and women who chose to serve their country in law enforcement simply because of the calendar and the identity of the Commander in Chief. It creates a political loyalty test for public service, something that has no place in a free society.
And it sets a precedent that should terrify everyone.
Who does this actually hurt?
It hurts the young men and women who grew up wanting to serve in law enforcement for the right reasons. It hurts college graduates who did everything right, applied to multiple agencies, and accepted the first opportunity they were given to serve. It hurts people who may have never met the President, never spoken to a politician, and never had any role in shaping federal policy.
They are being told, in effect: Your service does not count. Your sacrifice does not matter. Your career is tainted by politics you had nothing to do with.
That is collective punishment. And it is un-American.
Once we accept the idea that people can be barred from public service because of political timing, where does it stop?
Do we start disqualifying people based on where they lived?
What party they voted for?
Who was governor when they were hired?
Who was mayor?
What social media posts someone else made?
This is the same logic that drives every system of political exclusion throughout history. It never ends well.
Some activists want to pretend that all law enforcement officers and agents are villains. That is simply false. The overwhelming majority of officers join for the right reasons: to protect, to serve, and to make their communities safer. If there are disagreements about policy, then argue policy. Hold policymakers accountable. But do not scapegoat the rank-and-file professionals who carry out the law.
Flip the script for a moment.
Imagine if a presidential administration announced that no one from Maryland would be hired into the federal government. There would be immediate outrage. Lawsuits would be filed within hours. Editorial boards would rightly call it discriminatory and unconstitutional.
But when discrimination runs in the opposite direction, suddenly it is dressed up as “principle.”
We cannot operate under two sets of standards.
In America, people are supposed to be judged on their conduct, their qualifications, and their character. Not on who happened to be President when they were hired.
This proposal is not about public safety. It is not about professionalism. It is not about standards.
It is about politics.
And once politics becomes a litmus test for who is allowed to serve, every public institution becomes weaker, more divided, and less trustworthy.
Maryland should be competing to attract the best law enforcement professionals, not building ideological walls to keep people out.
If this proposal moves forward, it will not only harm individual careers. It will damage the integrity of public service itself.
We should reject it clearly, decisively, and now.
Because today it is ICE agents. Tomorrow, it will be someone else.
And by then, the principle will already be gone.
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