Philly officials appeal court ruling, seek to stop VisionQuest from moving migrant children into Logan shelter

Philadelphia officials have appealed to Commonwealth Court to stop an Arizona-based youth agency from moving undocumented migrant children into its Logan neighborhood shelter.

VisionQuest had expected to begin accepting children at the end of June after winning the right to proceed last week in Common Pleas Court. The agency plans to house a rotating population of Spanish-speaking boys ages 12 to 17, most of whom fled gang violence and poverty in Central America and who have no parent or legal guardian in this country.

The city’s new filing automatically triggers the equivalent of a preliminary injunction, blocking the earlier preliminary injunction that allowed VisionQuest to proceed. The agency is expected to move quickly to oppose the city’s appeal in Commonwealth Court.

“We’re disappointed but not entirely surprised,” said VisionQuest zoning attorney Carl Primavera. “The city has been fairly dug in on this from Day One. They’ve been unwilling to reconsider anything that would look like a compromise, or see it under a different perspective.”

In the sanctuary city of Philadelphia, the fight to keep VisionQuest from opening has been joined by City Council members, union leaders, immigrant advocates, and Logan residents. Opponents say the city should never allow immigrant children to be confined within its borders, and particularly not by VisionQuest.

The agency’s previous North Philadelphia shelter closed in 2017 after staff members were found to have punched and choked children there. Now, the agency will be paid up to $5.3 million by the federal government over three years to house the migrant children at the same site.

Last week, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick ruled that VisionQuest could proceed with its plan. She said that allowing VisionQuest to open the facility now — while a larger legal case goes forward — would cause “no adverse impact on or jeopardy of health, safety, or welfare of the employees of VisionQuest or the children placed in the shelter."