Philly Council to vote on sweeping legislation restricting ICE in the city
City Council members will convene Monday to hear testimony on the package, which codifies Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city into law.
Philadelphia City Council on Monday will consider a package of legislation aimed at curtailing ICE operations in the city, including banning immigration enforcement from conducting raids on city property and prohibiting agents from wearing masks.
Council members will convene at 10 a.m. to hear testimony on the package, which also codifies Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city into law and bars city workers from most forms of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The hearing will be held before Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is made up of all 17 members. If the committee advances the legislation Monday, it will still require another vote during a regular Council session — but passing through the Committee of the Whole will mean the package is all but certain to be approved.
» READ MORE: Philly City Council members will soon consider seven ‘ICE Out’ bills. Here’s what the proposals would do.
The legislative effort — spearheaded by progressive Councilmembers Rue Landau, a Democrat, and Kendra Brooks, of the Working Families Party — was already on a glide path to approval. Fifteen Council members have cosponsored the package, well over the nine votes that are required to pass legislation, and Council President Kenyatta Johnson has voiced his support.
Members are expected to hear testimony Monday from immigration advocates and members of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration. The city is home to an estimated 76,000 undocumented immigrants.
» READ MORE: Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks
If Council grants final passage to the legislative package in the coming weeks, the bills would then head to Parker’s desk.
And if they become law, Philadelphia would have some of the nation’s most stringent local restrictions on federal immigration-enforcement operations.
It is unclear how the mayor will handle the bills — she can sign them, veto them, or let them lapse into law without her signature. She has never vetoed a bill.
Parker’s administration has been tight-lipped about the mayor’s position. She is a centrist Democrat who has generally avoided outwardly criticizing President Donald Trump, often punting on questions about immigration and whether the city should or should not cooperate with ICE.
» READ MORE: Council President Kenyatta Johnson says Philadelphia can’t sit out Trump’s immigration fight anymore
When Landau and Brooks introduced their legislation in January — days after immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis — Parker said in a statement that she would review it with her top aides.
“We are aware of the potential challenges that we face, and we understand the public’s fear of the unknown as it relates to federal policy associated with immigration,” she said at the time.
Since she took office in 2024, Parker has repeatedly said that an executive order signed by her predecessor related to immigration enforcement remains in place. That order prohibits police and jail officials from complying with requests from ICE to detain immigrants, unless the agency has a warrant signed by a judge.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
