The Politics Hour: Local officials grapple with the federal immigration crackdown

Locals are protesting last week's fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis, while officials wrestle with how to keep residents safe as the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown. In Montgomery County, elected leaders are proposing a law limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. County Executive Marc Elrich joined the show to discuss the Trust Act, and how the county is working to protect its most vulnerable residents.The Trust Act extends county services to all residents regardless of immigration status and prevents local police from working with federal immigration authorities in certain circumstances, including participating in federal immigration raids. County Executive Marc Elrich said that’s the extent of the county’s power.“If ICE was just generally saying they're gonna go into a workplace and they get into the workplace and they're going to pull out workers, we can't intervene," Elrich said.The county council expects to vote on the Trust Act within the next few months. Plus, we discuss Elrich's plans for funding county schools and federal cuts.A D.C. Council committee released a report saying District police have lost the public's trust by not being transparent about their continued cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Chair Brooke Pinto is leading an effort to get clarity from interim police chief Jeff Carroll about MPD's relationship with ICE. Councilmember Pinto got behind the mic to discuss how the council is pressing District police. She said Chief Carroll's answers this week were “wholly inadequate." "The public has a right to know which federal agents are here," Pinto said. "How many arrests have been made? How many immigration-related arrests have be made? What does that level of deployment response look like?"The MPD head will need to answer these questions at a public oversight hearing set for February 25th.We also ask her about the council's process for picking its next member and the 2026 election season.Send us questions and comments for guests: [email protected] us on Instagram: instagram.com/wamu885Follow us on Bluesky: bsky.app/wamu.org