City of Hyattsville, MD Chapter 61 Non-Intervention With Respect to Citizenship and Immigration

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of Hyattsville 3-28-2017 by HO 2017-02. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 61-1 Non-intervention with respect to citizenship and immigration.

A. No official or employee may inquire into an individual's citizenship or immigration status.

B. If an official or employee learns of an individual's citizenship or immigration status, the official or employee may not act based solely on the individual's citizenship or immigration status.

C. No official or employee may utilize or allow to be utilized City resources to support federal civil immigration enforcement operations or activities.

§ 61-2 Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.

A. No official or employee may detain or arrest an individual based solely on known or suspected violations of federal civil immigration law.

B. No official or employee may utilize any individual's citizenship or immigration status as an interrogation tool or tactic. No official or employee may communicate to a suspect, detainee, or arrestee that any individual's ability to remain within the United States of America may be in jeopardy. Nothing herein shall be construed as barring an official or employee from providing information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status to that same individual.

C. No official or employee may enter into an agreement under 8 U.S.C. § 1357(g) or any other federal law that permits state or local governmental entities to enforce federal immigration laws.

D. No provision in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting the City of Hyattsville Police Department from:

(1) Investigating, detaining, or arresting violators of the criminal law; or

(2) Assisting any law enforcement agency with investigations or arrests relating to criminal activity and suspected criminal activity other than violations of the civil immigration and nationality laws of the United States of America; or

(3) Complying with the provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1373.

§ 61-3 City benefits.

A. No official or employee shall condition the provision of City benefits, opportunities, or services on a person's citizenship or immigration status unless required to do so by federal law, State law, this Code or Court order.

B. No official or employee shall condition the provision of City benefits, opportunities, or services based solely on the ability of the applicant to provide a driver's license or identification card issued by the State of Maryland unless required to do so by federal law, State law, this Code or Court order.

C. Unless otherwise required by law, the City shall accept identifications issued by social service organizations as sufficient proof of identification for the purposes of providing City benefits, opportunities, or services.

D. The City of Hyattsville shall not retain information related to an individual's citizenship or immigration status. The City Administrator shall promptly conduct a review of all applications, questionnaires and interview forms utilized for the provision of City benefits, opportunities, or services. Any information sought regarding citizenship or immigration status, other than those required by federal law, State law, this Code or Court order, shall be removed.

E. No provision in this chapter shall be construed as preventing any official or employee from complying with 8 U.S.C. § 1644.

§ 61-4 Discrimination and unconstitutional registries prohibited.

A. No official or employee shall discriminate against any person on the basis of citizenship, nationality or immigration status.

B. No official or employee shall participate in any federal registration program that requires registration of individuals on the basis of age, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical characteristic, citizenship, nationality or immigration status. If any official or employee becomes aware of any requirement that the City participate in any such program, the official or employee shall notify the City Administrator immediately. The City Administrator shall inform the Mayor and Council of the requirement and direct that the City Attorney review the requirement and advise the Mayor and Council as to the legality of the requirement.

§ 61-5 Reporting requirements.

The City Administrator shall report to the Mayor and Council the number of requests received by the City from the federal government regarding any matter covered by this ordinance. The report shall be made every six months and include the nature of the request or requests and the nature of any response. The City Administrator shall respond to a request by the Mayor or a Councilmember regarding a specific incident covered by this ordinance within two business days of the request.

§ 61-6 Preemption or conflicts.

A. No provision of this chapter shall apply whenever the provision conflicts with federal law, State law, this Code or Court order.

B. This chapter does not prohibit disclosure of information regarding citizenship or immigration status if the disclosure is:

(1) Required or authorized by federal law, State law, this Code or Court order; or

(2) Authorized in writing by the subject of the information.

C. Nothing herein shall be construed as applying to the City of Hyattsville's requirements for eligibility for employment and/or employee benefits.

§ 61-7 Construction.

The provisions of this chapter shall be construed so as to be effective to the extent that they do not conflict with federal law, state law, this Code or any Court order.