As federal immigration agents sweep the Baltimore region, making arrests as part of President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda, their efforts have begun drawing in local police.

In recent weeks, at least two such interactions have generated videos that spread quickly through social media, highlighting new challenges for Baltimore-area law enforcement called in to help protect federal immigration enforcement agents.

On June 8, in the Highlandtown neighborhood of Baltimore, a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agent called 911, saying a group of upset residents had crowded around his vehicle, according to audio of the call obtained by The Baltimore Banner.

“The public is blocking us off and they’re keeping us from departing,” the agent said. “If we could have some assistance down here, we’re just a little outmanned.”

Minutes later, Baltimore Police responded to the scene and cleared the way for the agent to leave.

Then a police sergeant faced off against a group of angry neighbors in an interaction that was captured on video, raising concerns among residents and advocates about whether the Police Department is now actively cooperating with federal ICE agents.

Even in Trump-labeled “sanctuary cities,” officers have an obligation to respond to credible calls for service. (Baltimore prohibits its police from participating in immigration enforcement, but rejects the “sanctuary” label in favor of “welcoming city.”)

That obligation includes calls from federal agents. But the policy guiding those interactions is complex, built on various guidelines — don’t engage in, assist or support immigration enforcement — and exceptions, including a direct threat to life or public safety.

Officers arriving at a tense scene such as the one in Highlandtown are finding themselves threading the needle of fulfilling their duties while not being seen as actively assisting federal agents.

Council Member Odette Ramos, an outspoken advocate on immigration issues, said the incident amounted to a “test” imposed by federal authorities.

“There is no agreement between ICE and BPD,” Ramos said. “ICE is testing us. We cannot let them get their way.”

CASA, a national organization serving working-class Black, Latino, African-descendant, Indigenous and immigrant communities, sounded a similar note.

“We urge our police to stay principled and not fall into ICE traps like using 911 calls to target families,” said Crisaly de Los Santos, CASA’s Central Maryland and Baltimore director.

Lindsey Eldridge, a spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department, stressed that ”there was no preplanned coordination or any assistance with the actual detention, which was completed prior to BPD’s arrival."

Still, in the wake of the Highlandtown detainment, Police Commissioner Richard Worley sent an email to rank-and-file officers a few days after the incident reiterating the department’s policy on immigration enforcement.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s office did not respond to a request for comment about local policing and immigration enforcement.

Anthony Cangelosi, a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent and adjunct lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that there is a fair amount of misinformation about federal immigration enforcement, which can fuel tensions in communities, especially so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.

Cangelosi said ICE officers, for example, need a warrant to apprehend someone but don’t need to show the document in order to detain someone in public. That’s only required if they wish to enter a private home or dwelling.

He added that these incidents are spreading nationwide, including in Worcester, Massachusetts, last month where local police responded to a crowd that gathered around an ICE enforcement operation demanding to see a warrant. Officers there made multiple arrests, prompting backlash from the community and advocacy groups.

Cangelosi said people have a right to protest the Trump administration’s policies, but “we don’t have the right to impede legitimate law enforcement action. There’s a distinction that needs to be drawn between the two.”

But for David Jaros, a law professor and faculty director for the University of Baltimore’s Center for Criminal Justice Reform, there’s a “nebulous line” in such situations between following the letter of local law — don’t participate in civil immigration enforcement — and violating the spirit of the law.

“It’s a very slippery slope along that line between performing your duties to maintain public safety and enforce state and local law, and doing your duties in a way that effectively helps federal immigration officials do their job,” Jaros said.

Tension in Baltimore County

Two days before the confrontation in Baltimore, someone filmed a Baltimore County police officer holding an individual while federal officers put the person in handcuffs outside a Ross clothing store in what appeared to be an immigration-related arrest.

The video spread quickly through social media and WhatsApp group messages, driving speculation that the county police officer was participating in the arrest.

Baltimore County has a similar policy to Baltimore prohibiting police from participating in immigration enforcement in many circumstances.

The Baltimore County Police Department declined to provide a police report about the incident, which it described as an open case. But the department said in a statement that its officers were responding to a call from a “bystander” about a “fight in progress with a weapon.”

When the officers arrived, they identified and spoke with a federal agent before entering the store, where they “observed a male subject, who was partially handcuffed, commit an assault,” according to police. That action “prompted the officers to intervene in order to prevent an escalation of the incident,” said department spokesperson Joy Stewart.

Stewart said no criminal charges have been filed “at this time.” But she said police reviewed the incident and determined officers did not violate the county policy. An executive order in Baltimore County prohibits their participation with state and federal operations “primarily intended to enforce civil immigration laws.”

“To suggest there was collaboration or coordination between the department and federal agents is false, despite any claims to the contrary,” she added.

Patchwork across state

The tensions surfacing in the Baltimore area are unlikely to ease anytime soon. On Sunday, Trump directed federal immigration officials to prioritize deportations from Democratic-run cities, suggesting the potential for further conflicts around Baltimore.

In other places in the state, there is more cooperation between local and federal authorities.

Several Maryland sheriffs have already entered into 287(g) agreements with ICE, a controversial program supported by some law enforcement but opposed by immigrant rights groups and named after a section of immigration law.

The agreements, which lawmakers in Annapolis considered barring earlier this year, allow ICE to train local deputies to serve and execute administrative warrants for jailed people who are believed to be in the country without authorization. Supporters say the program helps ICE identify people who commit crimes while living in the United States without documentation.

But there are several parts of Maryland that have local laws and ordinances limiting immigration enforcement.

In Howard County, a local law called the Liberty Act blocks the use of county resources for immigration enforcement. As a result, the detention center there came under fire from ICE for releasing a Honduran national convicted of rape.

Still, if a federal agent there were to place a call to 911 for assistance, the police would be bound to respond. A spokesperson for the Howard County Police Department said in a statement that the agency “would respond to any call for service in which ANY person’s safety could be compromised, regardless of any affiliation.”

A spokesperson for Anne Arundel County, which was also labeled a “sanctuary jurisdiction” by the Trump administration, did not respond to a request for comment.

Clyde Boatwright, president of the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police, said local police responding to calls from federal agents should remain solely focused on maintaining the safety of everyone involved.

“I don’t want anyone to think that Maryland law enforcement are actively hunting Maryland residents for the purpose of deportation,” Boatwright said. “We go when we’re called for assistance, but our primary function is to maintain law and order at a local level.”

Banner contributor Madeleine O’Neill contributed to this report.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed language from a Baltimore County executive order to a county police department spokesperson.