Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20. Since then, he has signed a flurry of executive orders that threaten the lives and freedoms of marginalized people across the country, including ramping up Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country, repealing diversity, equity and inclusion practices, targeting gender-affirming care, and freezing billions of dollars in funding for federal agencies, nonprofits and more.
In Maryland, a $3 billion budget deficit is weighing on lawmakers.
Amid all of this, Maryland lawmakers are gearing up to hold hearings on the more than 2,000 bills that have been filed in the Senate and House of Delegates.
With a new session comes the opportunity for local and statewide organizations to lobby and mobilize for more equitable legislation. Where does Baltimore fit into this?
Immigration
The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, known as HB1006, would require the Attorney General to develop guidelines for immigration enforcement at places like schools, worship areas, and health care facilities.
CASA, an organization that provides services and advocacy for immigrant and working-class families, issued a press release outlining its legislative agenda for Maryland’s 2025 session.
CASA’s Policy Director Cathryn Paul says the organization will stand firm against Trump’s promises of separating families, mass deportations, and other anti-immigration actions.
“Our priorities send a clear message: Maryland will not be complicit in these injustices. We will not let Marylanders become a pawn in his dangerous game,” Paul said.
While immigration is thought to be an issue that primarily affects the Hispanic and Latinx community, that isn’t the only demographic under threat from Trump’s policies. Malaya Movement Baltimore, a Filipino advocacy and activism group, spoke to Baltimore Beat about the vulnerability its members feel amid these aggressive tactics.
Josef Calugay, a coordinator for Malaya Baltimore, noted that Maryland already has strong protections for immigrant and migrant rights, one of which is the ability to get a driver’s license. Even so, Calugay and Malaya Baltimore remain steadfast in their commitment to continue protecting immigrant rights.
“[We’ll be] just ensuring that that remains intact and that we push back on the narrative that undocumented folks equals criminals, which is a totally false narrative,” Calugay said.
Gender-Affirming Care and Trans Rights
The Birth Certificate Modernization Act, known as HB1368, would streamline the process for updating names and gender markers on birth certificates, IDs and driver’s licenses. While this option has been available for drivers licenses and state IDs since 2019, this bill would introduce a gender-neutral “X” marking for gender-nonconforming Marylanders on their birth certificate, and add protections that prevent people from seeing prior names and gender identity.
Charlotte Persephone Hoffman, policy director for Trans Maryland, joined the organization soon after Trump won the presidential election in 2024. When Hoffman joined, they got to work with Trans Maryland to push the General Assembly to take stronger actions to protect transgender Marylanders from the hostility of the new federal administration.
So far, Trump has tried restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth, tried to limit gender markers on official documents to male and female only, and barred trans women and girl athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports at federally funded schools.
“It’s absolutely critical that trans Marylanders are able to get identity documents that represent their accurate gender identity, especially because the incoming Trump administration is talking about limiting the ability to change gender markers,” Hoffman said in January. “This is something that is desperately needed by our community.”
In light of the budget shortfall, Trans Maryland is also working to secure the passage of the Maryland HEALTH Fund bill (HB1059), which would help provide state-level funding for transition-related care. Another bill that Hoffman and Trans Maryland are continuing to work on is the HIV Decriminalization Bill, listed as HB0039.
Youth Justice and Criminal Justice Reforms
The Youth Equity and Safety Act, or the YES Act, would end the automatic charging of children ages 14 to 17 as adults for 33 criminal offenses. Prior versions of this bill failed to make it past the original chamber, but Del. Karen Toles of Prince George’s County plans to introduce the bill soon.
The practice of automatic charging disproportionately impacts Black children, with over 80 percent of Black children being charged as adults, creating undue trauma and increasing the likelihood of future recidivism. Advance Maryland’s Executive Director Alice Wilkerson says the practice doesn’t make any further sense because the majority end up in juvenile court.
“The vast majority of kids who are being charged as adults, put through the adult system, who are being exposed to and traumatized through this process, over 80 percent of them end up in the juvenile court,” Wilkerson said.
The YES Act is one of the Legislative Black Caucus’s priorities for this year, along with justice and sentencing reforms like the Maryland Second Look Act (SB0291) and medical and geriatric parole reform.
In a statement sent to Baltimore Beat, Maryland Youth Justice Coalition — which includes Advance Maryland, Baltimore Action Legal Team, the Sentencing Project and other advocacy organizations — said they “look forward to working with legislators this session to eliminate automatic charging for as many children as possible.”
Local commitments and beyond
On the labor front, UMD Graduate Labor Union has been working with John Hopkins Teachers and Researchers United to organize and fight for collective bargaining rights at University System of Maryland schools.
Henry Hausmann, a member of the University of Maryland graduate union’s organizing committee, says that if HB0211/SB166 passes, collective bargaining rights will extend to University System of Maryland schools like Coppin State University and University of Maryland, Baltimore, as well as Morgan State University.
“We’re going to continue fighting to make working conditions better, more equitable and more just for graduate students,” Hausmann said.
With a $3 billion budget deficit that means cuts will be necessary, elected representatives and lobbying organizations are trying to ensure their programs will not be severely impacted.
Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed budget cuts include $111 million from University System of Maryland funding and $200 million from the Developmental Disabilities Administration, and repealing the 1994 Arts Stabilization Act, which would gut funding for the arts. This is happening on top of Trump’s actions to significantly shrink the federal government in employment and funding.
Del. Marlon Amprey, who represents District 40 in Baltimore and is the treasurer for the Legislative Black Caucus, says the caucus is looking for ways to find cuts that won’t adversely affect the Black community.
“Often, the going thing is that when America has a cold, the Black community has the flu, or pneumonia,” Amprey said. “So we gotta make sure that when we’re doing these cuts, that we’re not harming our communities the most.”
Jalen Wade contributed reporting.