Comptroller Lierman: “A strong economy depends on all Marylanders being able to show up to work, support their families, and participate fully in their communities.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, State Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, and Defend America Action Deputy Research Director Joe Miller participated in a press call to detail the economic damage inflicted on communities statewide as a result of Donald Trump’s ICE operations. ICE’s unconstitutional tactics, warrantless home invasions, roving patrols, and violence against residents have devastated local economies, as workers and customers fear leaving their homes.
The speakers highlighted how the Trump administration is prioritizing their extreme mass deportation agenda over the economic concerns voters actually care about, outlining how ICE’s tactics are terrorizing their constituents while simultaneously undermining the state’s economy.
“A strong economy depends on all Marylanders being able to show up to work, support their families, and participate fully in their communities. When that participation is disrupted, the economic impacts can be felt across all different sectors and regions,” said Comptroller Brooke Lierman. “Immigrant workers are deeply integrated across key sectors of Maryland’s economy, and in many of these industries, they are essential to filling workforce gaps and supporting continuity of services that Maryland residents rely on every single day. They’re indispensable.”
“ICE tactics from the Trump administration are not only a humanitarian crisis in our nation, they’re also causing measurable economic damage throughout our state,” said Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins. “I serve as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over education policy, as well as our state and local revenues. And both our schools and our economies are suffering due to Trump’s policies.”
“ICE purchased the Hagerstown/Williamsport-area warehouse in January, and it’s planning a 1,500-bed facility, which will cost Marylanders tens of millions of dollars over the next decade,” said Defend America Action Deputy Research Director Joe Miller. “It will cut off millions of dollars in tax revenue alone, and completely overwhelm the local sewer and water systems.”
A recording of the press call is available here and Comptroller Lierman’s letter to President Trump on this issue is available here.
BACKGROUND
- Trump’s immigration agenda is hurting Marylanders. ICE arrests roughly doubled in 2025 in the state. Consequently, graduation rates for Hispanic and ESL students dropped in 2025 amid ICE enforcement operations as attendance dropped. Maryland farmers are also losing their workforce due to Trump’s changes to immigration policy and ICE crackdown.
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- ICE is building a huge new detention facility in Western Maryland. ICE recently purchased a warehouse in Hagerstown and is planning a 1,500-bed detention facility that will cost the local community tens of millions of dollars. The acquisition itself cuts off $9 million in tax revenue over the next decade, and converting an industrial site into a densely-populated detention center will force the county to make $1.47 million in capital improvements to roads and fork over untold sums of money to make an 8,000% capacity increase to local water/sewer systems. Maryland’s attorney general has already filed a lawsuit against DHS over the warehouse purchase.
- Marylanders are paying thousands more due to Trump’s tariffs. Maryland residents are facing high prices due to Trump’s economic policies. Contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, 96 percent of the burden of Trump’s tariffs is borne by U.S. importers and consumers. New data shows that Maryland importers paid billions in tariff bills in 2025, with the cost of Trump’s tariffs running around $3.5 billion. Trump’s tariffs cost households an average of $1,744 in 2025, and in the first year of Trump’s second term, Marylanders paid an average of $1,326 more in goods and services. In January, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since 2014 – even worse than at any point during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Maryland health care costs are already up thanks to Trump & Republicans: The Trump-GOP Big, Ugly Bill cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). An estimated 175,000 Marylanders will lose their health care because of Trump and Republicans’ deep health care cuts, which could cause hundreds of avoidable deaths per year. Nearly three-quarters of Marylanders ranked the cost of health care as among their top political issues.
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- Maryland hospitals are estimated to lose $69 million a year due to Medicaid cuts alone. The state recently received a rural health care grant from the Trump administration, but the grant program falls short of covering the $155 billion that rural areas are projected to lose from the Trump-GOP cuts, and leaves Maryland hospitals scrambling to come up with the remaining two-thirds of the lost funding that isn’t covered by the rural health grant. According to Protect Our Care’s Hospital Crisis Watch, a Maryland clinic has already closed in the wake of the Trump-GOP bill.
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- The Trump-GOP plan to rip away ACA tax credits will hit Maryland’s small businesses especially hard. At least 45,100 small business owners in the state rely on the ACA for coverage – nearly 1 in 5 Maryland ACA enrollees – and 87 percent of small business owners wanted Congress to permanently extend ACA tax credits.
- Maryland housing costs are a top concern. According to recent polling, 92% of Marylanders think the cost of housing is a problem. Nearly three-quarters of Marylanders say there is not enough affordable housing in the state. More than one-third of Maryland households are cost-burdened by housing. Meanwhile, homebuilders and homebuyers are heavily impacted by Trump’s tariffs, which are expected to have increased the price of a new home by about $9,200.
- Maryland energy costs are skyrocketing. Maryland was recently ranked the most expensive state in the country for utility costs. Since Trump took office in January, residential electric bills are up over 17 percent nationwide, meaning the cost of household utilities is rising nearly five times faster than inflation overall. Locally, Climate Power estimates that electricity bills in Maryland are rising by around $216 annually, and Maryland households already pay a median of over $6,500 annually on utility bills.
- Trump is threatening jobs and energy investments in Maryland. Trump has threatened over $120 million in Maryland energy investments, cancelling, delaying, and forcing layoffs at nine energy-related projects and leading to over 1,500 jobs threatened or lost.
- Trump is ripping help away from Marylanders. Trump’s budget cuts are ripping away vital assistance for health care, food, and more from hundreds of thousands of Marylanders.
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- Thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, Nearly 300,000 Marylanders across the state who buy health insurance through the ACA are facing an average premium increase of 13 percent for 2026 – significantly less than many other states after Maryland Democrats stepped in and offered state-funded premium subsidies to protect Maryland residents from steeper price increases. Thanks to state subsidies, Maryland was one of the few states to see increased ACA plan enrollment for 2026. Although overall enrollment rose, higher costs driven by Trump and the GOP ripping away tax credits pushed more Marylanders into lower-coverage, higher-deductible plans this year.
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- Trump and Republicans in Congress cut $187 billion in food assistance, which helps give nearly 700,000 Marylanders access to food. These cuts leave an estimated 57,000 Marylanders at immediate risk of losing their food aid and will leave Maryland without nearly $596 million in annual federal funds – an approximately 38 percent reduction.
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