Montco immigration advocates urge all towns to limit collaboration with ICE as the agency creates ‘a crisis in our neighborhoods’
In Norristown, immigration advocates urged all 62 municipalities in Montgomery County to enshrine policies that would limit police and local government cooperation with ICE.
Montgomery County immigration advocates renewed calls for more municipalities to approve policies that would limit police and local government cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up enforcement.
Advocates have been calling for welcoming policies across the county for months but advocates estimated that as of Wednesday, only six of Montgomery County’s 62 municipalities had enacted policies. Even those, they argued, were lackluster.
Montco Community Watch, a grassroots group of activists who track and document ICE enforcement, said Thursday during a news conference at a West Norriton church that the need for more local governments to set their own is dire.
“ICE has created a crisis in our neighborhoods, and we cannot afford silence, mixed signals, or leadership that only reacts once harm has already happened,” said Stephanie Vincent, a leader of Montco Community Watch.
Ambler, Springfield, West Norriton, Abington, Norristown, and Cheltenham had approved policies, advocates said, though they are mostly internal policies that advocates say don’t do enough to protect immigrants.
The sense of urgency was palpable Thursday as ICE dramatically expands its presence and visibility, both in the Philadelphia region and across the United States.
Montco Community Watch has documented at least 97 detentions and 30 suspected ICE detentions in Montgomery County, and “there are likely more detentions that we have not heard about,” Vincent said.
The group was joined Thursday by representatives for Indivisible Greater Jenkintown, a progressive advocacy group, and the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition at Ascension Church. Advocates said that strong welcoming policies, sometimes referred to as sanctuary policies, would outline that police will not honor ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant, that local government resources will not be spent on ICE, and that communities will feel safe to access resources without fear of federal agents.
The policies that advocates are striving for are often referred to as sanctuary policies, and Trump has threatened to strip federal resources from local governments that do not cooperate with ICE.
Advocates had been working since the summer to encourage municipalities across Montgomery County to approve policies limiting cooperation with ICE. The county, particularly the Norristown area, had become a hot spot for ICE enforcement in the early months of the Trump administration.
In July, video of a raid at a West Norriton grocery store appeared to show local police assisting the federal agency; the township said federal authorities had sought assistance to retain order while they served a warrant for tax evasion.
Advocates pushed county leaders to enact a welcoming resolution, but officials consistently reiterated that they lacked any control over local police forces.
Despite months of requests, Montgomery County has not passed a formal ordinance or resolution declaring itself a welcoming county. The county’s Democratic commissioners have cited limits to their power, concern about creating a false sense of security, and a preference for internal policy changes.
Earlier this year, county officials approved a policy limiting communication between county employees and ICE and said they would not honor prison detainer requests without warrants.
Advocates said Thursday that they strongly prefer limitations on local collaboration with ICE to be enshrined in ordinances rather than enacted through internal policies or statements, which can lack transparency and accountability and are not always enforceable.
“None of [the six municipalities’ policies] are complete and the most visible problem on all of them is a lack of any accountability,” said Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, of Indivisible Greater Jenkintown.
Julio Rodriguez, from the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, added that a lack of clear boundaries between local policies and federal agents creates more confusion and worry in the community.
“It reinforces that fact the people just don’t know what’s happening,” Rodriguez said.
Staff writer Jeff Gammage contributed to this article.