Philadelphia doesn’t have to honor ICE jail detainers, federal judge rules
After finding in July that Philadelphia lacks authority to unmask ICE agents, U.S. District Judge Chad F. Kenney ruled that the city isn't required to collaborate with federal immigration agents.
Philadelphia is not required to respect requests from federal agencies to keep undocumented immigrants in jail long enough to be handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Chad F. Kenney dismissed a challenge brought by the Department of Justice against a provision in Philadelphia’s “ICE Out” legislation that codified the city’s long-standing practice of not honoring immigration detainers.
“Courts routinely find that compliance with immigration detainer requests is not mandatory for states and localities,” wrote the judge, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.
Philadelphia’s ordinance is not unlawful because “compliance with an immigration detainer is voluntary,” Kenney wrote. The prohibition on honoring detainers also “does not pose a true obstacle to the federal government’s execution and enforcement” of immigration law, the judge said.
A spokesperson for the city’s law department said in a statement the city “concurs” with the court’s decision and remains “committed to compliance with local, state, and federal laws.”
The Justice Department did not responded to a request for comment.
The lawsuit was originally filed in June against the city, its officials, and District Attorney Larry Krasner and focused on a provision prohibiting law enforcement officers from concealing their identity.
The Justice Department expanded its complaint to also target the detainer ordinance, which is part of the “ICE Out” legislation package that took effect in July, and makes it illegal for a city agency or employee to keep people otherwise eligible for release in custody because of an immigration detainer, an administrative warrant, or suspicion they violated immigration law.
The Justice Department argued the local provision imposed a “blanket refusal” by the city to cooperate with the federal government, and amounted to a “standing assurance that the federal handoff Congress built into federal immigration law will never happen within Philadelphia, whatever the circumstances.”
The detainer provision is the second “ICE Out” bill challenged by the Justice Department. In July, Kenney ruled that Philadelphia doesn’t have the authority to order ICE agents to unmask.
Unlike the detainer bill, which Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed in May, Parker allowed the mask bill to become law without her signature, following the advice of then-City Solicitor Renee Garcia that signing the bill “would send an inaccurate signal to the public that the Administration can legally or practically enforce” its provisions.
The Justice Department expanded its lawsuit in August to also challenge the detainer provision, but this time, Kenney sided with Philadelphia’s position.
