On October 10, 2018, Mayor Catherine Pugh, Archbishop William E. Lori, and Interim Commissioner Gary Tuggle of the Baltimore Police Department joined BUILD leaders at member institution Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church to announce the launch of parish identification cards that will be recognized by city agencies.
This parish ID card system is the result of Mayor Pugh’s commitment before 1,200 BUILD members in June 2018 to work with BUILD to make Baltimore a safe city for all.
These parish-issued identification cards, issued by Catholic congregations with the full support of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, will be a form of non-government identification available to members of the congregations. The identification card will be recognized by Baltimore City law enforcement and other city agencies as an alternative form of identification in specified situations. Mayor Pugh committed to training police officers on the Parish ID within the next two weeks.
In the climate of violence that has plagued Baltimore over the last three years, immigrants have often hesitated to contact police to report crimes, fearing that police might involve federal agents which could lead to deportation of family or friends.
Immigrants worked with BUILD and Sacred Heart to design the cards and spoke about the trust that would begin to be restored between the immigrant communities and the Baltimore Police Department. “This is just one step toward making Baltimore a city of neighbors and not strangers,” Father Bruce Lewandowski of Sacred Heart emphasized. “We have so much more work to do.”
Press coverage
Baltimore Sun
Baltimore police to recognize Catholic Church-issued ID cards for immigrants
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Baltimore Mayor: Parish ID Cards will be valid for city identification
WMAR 2
Catholic churches to issue ID cards to immigrants: recognized by Baltimore Police