Philadelphia City Council passes landmark ‘ICE Out’ legislation

Philadelphia City Council on Thursday passed a package of seven bills restricting immigration enforcement activities in the city with a veto-proof majority.

The measures were first introduced at the end of January by Councilmember At-Large and Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, Working Families Party, and Councilmember At-Large Rue Landau, Democratic Party, just days after federal immigration enforcement agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.

“This legislation shows that Philadelphians are not afraid to stand up to the Trump administration,” Brooks said following the vote. “We are not afraid to stand up to our neighbors, and we do not take kindly to bullies who try to intimidate people in our communities.”

Brooks and Landau thanked Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition and other advocacy organizations, community members and volunteers who helped shape and advance the legislation.

“We are going to put Philadelphia on the map of having one of the strongest local laws in the entire country, telling ICE how they need to behave when they’re in Philadelphia,” Landau told WHYY News.

The “ICE Out” legislation:

• Prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and all other law enforcement officers from wearing masks or using unmarked vehicles, and requires them to display badges, with exceptions for undercover work, SWAT teams and medical purposes.
• Codifies the city’s longstanding commitment to not participating in collaboration agreements with ICE under its 287(g) program.
• Prohibits city agencies, including police, from collaborating with ICE and other federal civil immigration enforcement agents absent a judicial warrant.
• Prohibits city agencies from collecting information on people’s citizenship or immigration status and sharing that information or other personal data with ICE.
• Prohibits discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status by city agencies, employers, housing providers or businesses.
• Bars ICE from conducting raids on city-owned properties.
• Bans ICE access, absent a judicial warrant, to city-owned spaces, including libraries, health centers, shelters and rec centers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation.

The mood was celebratory at a packed Council chambers on Thursday. Supporters and members of immigrant rights organizations greeted council members as they filed into the meeting with chants of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, vote yes today,” holding signs in support of the “ICE Out” legislation and the Safe Healthy Homes Act.

“It’s been like a really exciting campaign to be able to come together as a community and see that we can actually win when we organize,” said Blanca Pacheco, co-director of New Sanctuary Movement, an interfaith immigrant advocacy organization.

She said she and other organizers and advocates will now focus on what the laws will look like on the ground.

“The next step is to make sure that we have a clear implementation and to continue working with the city to make sure that it’s actually implemented,” she said.

Although some people criticized the legislation during the public comment section, the majority of speakers who commented on the “ICE Out” bills spoke in support.

María Serna spoke in Spanish during the public comment section. She said the issue was “personal” to her because she is an immigrant from Colombia and her husband was deported.

“Muchas personas inmigrantes queremos lo mismo: respeto, identidad, seguridad y la libertad de vivir en paz con nuestras familias, trabajar, criar a nuestros hijos y poner pan en nuestra mesa sin vivir con miedo”, dijo ella. “Eso no es pedir demasiado”.

“Many of us immigrants want the same thing: respect, identity, safety and the freedom to live in peace with our families, work, raise our children and put bread on our table without living in fear,” she said. “That’s not asking too much.”

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s signature is not necessary for the bills to become law. Charles Ellison, director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, said at an April 13 hearing that six of the seven bills are “legally problematic.”

Legislation in California banning ICE agents from wearing masks suffered a legal setback on Wednesday, when the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the law.

Parker, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday, will have 10 days to either sign the bills, do nothing and let them become law, or reject the measures. The legislation will go into effect 60 days after becoming law.

Landau said that council members are continuing to have conversations with the Parker administration.

“We were pleased to hear that they have some policies that they are introducing now and starting to train their staff on and it’s going to be an ongoing process,” she told WHYY News, noting that the bills will go into effect 60 days after they become law.

Philadelphia now joins other counties and municipalities throughout Pennsylvania, including Allentown, Reading and neighboring Montgomery County, in passing legislation restricting cooperation with ICE, except in cases of obligations under federal law.

Most “welcoming” ordinances or policies bar cooperation with ICE absent a judicial warrant and prohibit law enforcement agencies from honoring ICE administrative detainers.

As is the case with Philadelphia’s measures, many such policies restrict local government agencies and law enforcement from collecting information regarding a person’s immigration status unless required by law, as well as prohibit leasing municipal property to ICE.