As rumors swirl of a potential U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge in Philadelphia, two councilmembers are proposing new restrictions on the activities of federal agents in the city.
Under one measure, all law enforcement officers would be barred from wearing masks or using unmarked vehicles in the city, with exceptions 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 judicial warrant.
Another section would codify the city’s longstanding “sanctuary city” policy of not participating in ICE’s 287(g) program, under which police officers pull aside jailed people who are wanted for immigration violations, and hold them to be picked up for detainment and possible deportation.
The measures were authored by Councilmember Kendra Brooks of the Working Families Party and Councilmember Rue Landau, a Democrat. They partly mirror legislation in towns like Allentown and Reading, which passed a non-cooperation ordinance in October, as well as similar policies in effect in other sanctuary cities across the country.
The proposals also reflect heightened concern in recent weeks over the Trump administration’s intensifying immigration crackdowns. Some 3,000 immigration officers are reportedly deployed in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the recent killing of observers Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents there have been widely condemned.
“Philadelphians want our city to be free from Trump’s tactics of fear, surveillance, and violence,” Brooks and Landau said in a statement Tuesday. “When the federal government tramples our rights, it falls to local governments to do everything in our power to keep people safe.”
Contrasting approaches to ICE
Social media buzzed last week with a report that an ICE surge is coming to Philadelphia soon, drawing defiant responses from commenters, but the rumor so far appears to be unfounded.
However, ICE has ramped up detentions in the city over the past year, as it has in places across the country.
Some local officials, most prominently District Attorney Larry Krasner and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, have responded with increasingly pointed warnings to the federal government not to send more officers, and promises to prosecute any agents that commit crimes. Immigrant advocacy groups have led numerous public protests against ICE, including one on Monday and another last week in Center City.
Brooks and Landau, members of City Council’s progressive wing, are among those who have repeatedly raised alarms about ICE. Since last summer, they have been sponsoring trainings on how bystanders should interact with immigration agents and how to help residents at risk of being detained.
Mayor Cherelle Parker, however, has generally declined to comment on the Trump administration’s immigration policies or respond directly to demands that the city do more to advocate for residents at risk of detention and deportation.
During an interview with WHYY’s Studio 2 last month, she was asked about criticisms of her stance. She noted that she’s maintained the city’s 12-year-old policy of not allowing police to hand over detained people to ICE — unless they’ve been convicted of a violent felony and there’s a judicial warrant — and defended her non-confrontational approach.
“I lead in a way that is best for me as mayor to protect my city of Philadelphia and all of my people,” Parker said.
Asked by host Cherri Gregg if she was making a strategic decision not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, the mayor said, “You could look at it, Cherri, like that.”
Given her position, it remains to be seen how much support Brooks and Landau will find for their bills from Council President Kenyatta Johnson, a close Parker ally, and other council members, and whether the mayor would sign the legislation.
Parker’s office declined to comment, saying that officials had not yet seen the legislation. A spokesperson noted that two mayoral executive orders restricting cooperation with ICE remain in effect.
Banning masks and cooperation
Brooks and Landau said their “ICE Out” legislative package consists of measures covering four areas:
• Identification: Prohibits ICE and other law enforcement agents from hiding their identity with face masks and unmarked vehicles: requires them to display a badge; and creates new penalties for impersonating an officer. There are exceptions for legitimate undercover actions, SWAT teams, and medical needs.
• Cooperation and data: Codifies executive orders banning 287(g) agreements, which allow local police to act as ICE agents, prohibits city agencies from collaborating with ICE, and prevents city agencies from collecting citizenship and immigration status data or sharing any kind of personal data with ICE.
• Public services: Prohibits anyone, including the city, employers, housing providers, or private businesses from discriminating or refusing services on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.
• City spaces: Prohibits ICE from using city-owned properties as staging locations for raids and prohibits employees from granting ICE access to city-owned spaces, including libraries, shelters, health centers and rec centers, without a judicial warrant.
The councilmembers did not mention courthouses among the list of city facilities from which ICE could be barred.
Advocates have demanded that Sheriff Bilal, whose office provides court security, prohibit ICE agents from entering the Criminal Justice Center as they look for immigrants to detain. The sheriff has said that it would require a judicial order to bar the agents, while the First Judicial District has said such decisions are up to Bilal.
The identification section of the legislation resembles a state bill proposed last summer by state Sen. Nikil Saval of Philadelphia and Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, who represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties. It would ban law enforcement officials from wearing masks and require them to have visible identification, with certain exceptions.
U.S. House Democrats have also introduced a federal version of the bill.
