Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comments from rally speakers.
As rumors swirl about a potential raise in the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Philadelphia, two council members are proposing modern restrictions on federal agents’ activities in the city.
Under one measure, all law enforcement officers would be banned from wearing masks and using unmarked vehicles in the city, except for undercover work, SWAT teams and medical needs. ICE agents would be prohibited from using city-owned properties as staging areas for immigration raids and from entering city buildings, including libraries and shelters, without a court order.
Another bill would codify the city’s long-standing “sanctuary city” policy of not participating in the ICE 287(g) program, under which police officers arrest people jailed on immigration violations and hold them for detention and possible deportation.
Council members Kendra Brooks and Rue Landau announced the proposed legislation during a raucous rally with immigrant advocacy groups and other elected officials outside City Hall on Tuesday morning.
“When federal agents terrorize our communities and execute American citizens on the streets, we must take action,” Brooks told the crowd. “ICE is already here in Philadelphia, tearing families apart and forcing people to live in fear. Every day we receive new reports of ICE cruelty and violence. I do not want to wait until another person is publicly murdered before we take action on this matter.”
These measures partly mirror legislation in cities like Allentown and Reading issued a regulation prohibiting cooperation in October, as well as similar rules in place in other sanctuary cities across the country.
They also reflect the heightened concern seen in recent weeks over the Trump administration’s escalating immigration crackdown. According to reports in Minneapolis and St. Paul, approximately 3,000 immigration officers were posted, and the recent killing of observers Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents occurred universally condemned.
“We are here because we know what is right and necessary, and Philadelphia has a responsibility to lead when the federal government refuses to act with respect for the lives of its own citizens, as well as our immigrant neighbors who call this place home,” Landau said.
Immigrants are afraid to leave their homes
Several speakers at the rally said the proposed legislation is urgently needed to protect undocumented immigrants in the city who live in fear of being detained.
Erika Nuñez, director of Juntos, said the group’s ICE action hotline has received hundreds of calls since its launch a year ago.
“We have received calls reporting ICE agents using public parking lots and other common spaces to mass prepare for enforcement actions, causing panic in anyone who sees them,” she said. “We’re hearing from libraries and clinics that are trying to strengthen community privacy, not knowing what else they can do. We’re getting calls from families who are afraid to see a doctor, get a city ID, or call the police, all out of fear that their information could be used against them and shared with ICE.”
West Oak Lane resident Sandra Bryant-Downie, a home care worker and cleaner and member of the National Domestic Workers Union, said many black and brown people in her profession are also afraid to go out in public.
“We do a job that makes any other job possible. What would happen in the city if domestic workers couldn’t do their jobs because of ICE aggression?” she asked. “This fear also means that because they do not defend their rights or report workplace abuses, it makes abusive employers feel even more empowered because they can use the threat of ICE action to exploit immigrant workers.”
Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of the Muslim civil rights organization CAIR-Philadelphia, told the story of a community member who had not eaten for three days because he was afraid to go out to buy food and called a local imam asking for aid.
“The idea of not poking the bear will not work this time. We must learn from the long fight for civil rights in this country. We must learn that those who see Somali immigrants in Minnesota as a threat have come for all of us,” he said. “That’s why we need this legislation in Philadelphia.”
Rally participants included District Attorney Larry Krasner; council members Nicholas O’Rourke, Jamie Gauthier and Isaiah Thomas; State Representatives Rick Krajewski, Malcolm Kenyatta, Chris Rabb, Joseph Hohenstein, Ben Waxman and Tarik Khan; and state senators Nikil Saval and Sharif Street. Brooks also read a supportive statement from council member Quetcy Lozada.
Krasner called ICE agents “a small group of would-be Nazis” and praised the bravery of observers who document ICE activities by recording cellphone videos. He also said he expects state prosecutors in Minnesota to bring “justice” to federal agents who injured or killed people.
“There will be responsibility now, there will be responsibility in the future,” he said. “There will be accountability once Trump leaves office. If we have to hunt you down like they hunted down the Nazis for decades, we will find your identity. We will find you. We will achieve justice, and we will do it in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”
A contrasting approach to ICE
Landau said she and Brooks have been preparing the legislation for months, but recent events make now the “perfect time” to introduce the bills.
There was also a frenzy on social media with claims that a surge in ICE emissions would soon be coming to Philadelphia, prompting defiant responses from commentators. While these rumors so far appear to be unfounded, ICE has increased detentions in this city over the past year, as it has across the country.
Some local officials responded, most notably Krasner and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal increasingly explicit warnings to the federal government not to send more officers, and promises to prosecute any agents who commit crimes. Immigrant support groups have led to numerous public protests against ICE, including one on Monday AND another final week in Center City.
Brooks and Landau, members of the progressive wing of the City Council, are among those who have repeatedly raised the alarm about ICE. Since last summer, they have sponsored training on how outsiders should deal with immigration agents and how to aid residents at risk of detention.
Mayor Cherelle Parker, however, generally refuses to comment on the Trump administration’s immigration policies or directly respond to demands that the city do more to support residents at risk of detention and deportation.
While interview with Studio 2 WHYY last month she was asked about criticism of her position. She noted that she was maintaining the cityPolitics from 12 years ago about not allowing police to turn over detained people to ICE – unless they have been convicted of a violent crime and there is a court order – and defended its non-confrontational approach.
“I lead in the way that is best for me as mayor to protect my city of Philadelphia and all of my citizens,” Parker said.
When asked by host Cherri Gregg if she was making a strategic decision not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, the mayor replied: “You can look at it this way, Cherri.”
Given her stance, it remains to be seen whether the bill will gain the support of Council Speaker Kenyatta Johnson, a close Parker ally, and enough other council members to ensure its passage, and whether the mayor will sign the bill.
Parker’s office declined to comment, saying city officials had not yet seen the bills. The spokesman noted that two mayoral orders limiting cooperation with ICE are still in effect.
Mask ban and cooperation
Brooks and Landau said their “ICE Out” legislative package consists of measures covering four areas:
• Identification: Prohibits ICE and other law enforcement officials from concealing their identities with face masks and unmarked vehicles: Requires them to have a badge; and introduces modern penalties for impersonating an officer. There are exceptions for legitimate covert activities, SWAT teams, and medical needs.
• Cooperation and Data: Codifies executive orders prohibiting Section 287(g) arrangements that allow local police to act as ICE agents, prohibits city agencies from cooperating with ICE, and prohibits city agencies from collecting citizenship and immigration status data or sharing any personal information with ICE.
• Public services: Prohibits anyone, including the city, employers, housing providers, or private businesses, from discriminating against or denying services based on citizenship or immigration status.
• City Spaces: Prohibits ICE from using City-owned properties as staging areas for raids and prohibits employees from providing ICE access to City-owned spaces, including libraries, shelters, health centers, and recreation centers, without a court order.
Councilors did not include courthouses on the list of city facilities to which ICE could be prohibited from entering.
Supporters demanded that Sheriff Bilal, whose office provides security for the courthouse, bar ICE agents from the Criminal Justice Center while they are looking for immigrants to detain. The sheriff said blocking agents would require a court order, while the First Judicial Circuit said such decisions were until Bilal.
The identification portion of the legislation is similar to a state bill proposed last summer by Saval and state Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, who represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties. It would prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks and require them to have perceptible identification, with some exceptions.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have also introduced a federal version of the bill.
WHYY reporter Tom MacDonald contributed to this report.
