Why Should Delaware Care?
Amid rising operations from federal immigration agents in Delaware and President Donald Trump’s promise to increase arrests and crack down on deportations, state lawmakers are proposing a bill package to limit ICE’s authority in the state.
A new state bill package could limit how federal immigration officials are able to conduct arrests in Delaware.
The proposals, which Democratic lawmakers call “forward-looking” policies to protect civil liberties, come amid a rise in immigration enforcement operations in Delaware. They also follow President Donald Trump’s promise that his administration will conduct mass deportations, targeting people in the United States without legal authorization.
If passed, the bills would limit who federal agents could detain in Delaware courtrooms. They also would prohibit for-profit immigration detention centers from operating in the state.
The sponsor of the four-bill package, Rep. Mara Gorman (D-Newark), says the measures stem from concerns she had immediately following the last election when Trump won his second term in office. She also expressed concerns about the safety of U.S. citizens, saying there have been instances in other states of Americans being deported.
“I remembered what had happened in the first Trump administration. I was worried that this time would be frankly worse, and unfortunately, that proved to be correct,” she said.
In March, Gorman also backed a legislative resolution that urged Delaware schools to adopt policies around immigration, data privacy, and student safety. Lawmakers said the resolution, which passed, would provide a framework of policies to protect undocumented students amid heightened fears of immigration enforcement at schools.
The bills
Gorman’s bill package includes HB 150, which would prohibit civil arrests from being made in courthouses without a judicial warrant.
The legislation is supported by the Delaware Department of Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, and others, said Jenevieve Worley, spokeswoman for the House Majority Caucus.
Helen Salita, a campaign manager for ACLU Delaware, says the bill would establish courtrooms as sensitive locations in the state, preventing agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting sweeps there. Agents would only be allowed to detain someone if they obtained a valid warrant for that specific individual.
“If they have a warrant for one person, we want to limit [their] ability to get anyone as sort of collateral damage, who just may happen to be around that person at that time,” Salita said.
For years, ICE generally did not conduct operations in schools, courtrooms, and churches.
But, in his first term, Trump adopted a policy that permitted agents to search those locations. The Biden Administration undid the policy, but in January Trump reinstated it
Since then, a surge of immigrant arrests has taken place throughout the country including in courthouses in Virginia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Individuals who were detained included both plaintiffs and defendants in local court cases, according to the Associated Press.
Last month, a Wisconsin judge was arrested by FBI agents on federal obstruction charges for trying to help a defendant avoid immigration agents by letting him leave her courtroom through a jury door.
Delaware Democratic lawmakers say that such ICE actions can disrupt court proceedings and impact whether people show up to court.
In a recent press release, Sen. Laura Sturgeon (D-Brandywine Hundred), who is co-sponsoring the bill, said an increase in ICE presence at courthouses can affect a communities’ ability to keep themselves safe.
“These arrests make it harder for survivors to find justice and undermine the integrity of our legal system as a whole,” she said.
The Delaware Department of Justice could not be reached for comment.
Another piece of legislation, HB 151, would ban the operation of private detention facilities in Delaware.
Currently, there are no private detention facilities in Delaware, but Gorman says she would like to see that they can never come into the state.
Last month, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee advanced a proposal to allocate $45 billion to ICE for expanding detention capacity through 2029.
Joseph Fulgham, director of policy and communications for the House Republican caucus, said Gorman’s bill rests on the assumption that private prisons are more flawed than government-run institutions.
He argues that both have had their share of problems.
“The key issue should not be who operates the facility—public or private—but whether it is managed efficiently, safely, and humanely. I question the wisdom of needlessly eliminating potential options, especially when we cannot fully anticipate or appreciate the challenges we’ll face in the future,” Fulgham said in a statement to Spotlight Delaware.
Gorman’s final two bills in the legislative package would tighten laws around who can make arrests in the state. HB 153, would ban the practice of citizen’s arrests, making it illegal for anyone without explicit legal authority—including private investigators—to detain another person.
HB 142 would strip private individuals of the power to make warrantless arrests for felony suspects wanted in other states, reserving that authority for trained law enforcement. The bill would also repeal a long-standing statute that allows officers to compel bystanders to help with arrests.
“We don’t want anyone to get into their head, to take their law into their own hands,” Gorman said.
Gorman believes the bills have a “strong possibility” of passing the House, saying her Democratic colleagues seem supportive.
House Speaker Melissa “Mimi” Minor-Brown did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
Gorman also says she believes that law enforcement officers would be supportive of the measures, given discussions she’s had with them previously.
Jonathan Yard, executive board member for the Delaware State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, says the organization will wait until after the bills are reviewed in committee to create an official stance.
House Republican leaders declined to comment for this story.
HB 153 and HB 142 will be reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee on May 21.
