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  • ICE tactics in Minneapolis set off political firestorm from Philadelphia City Hall to Washington

    ICE tactics in Minneapolis set off political firestorm from Philadelphia City Hall to Washington

    In Philadelphia, lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would institute some of the nation’s toughest limits on federal immigration-enforcement operations.

    In Harrisburg, a top Democrat floated making Pennsylvania a so-called sanctuary state to protect undocumented immigrants.

    And in Washington, senators faced mounting pressure to hold up funding for the Department of Homeland Security, an effort that could result in a government shutdown by the end of the week.

    Across the nation, lawmakers are fielding calls to rein in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after President Donald Trump’s administration surged forces into Minneapolis as part of his aggressive nationwide deportation campaign. Frustration with the agency reached new heights Saturday after agents fatally shot protester Alex Pretti, the second killing of a U.S. citizen there this month.

    Democrats nationwide slammed ICE and called on Trump to pull the forces out of Minnesota. Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has at times sided with Trump on immigration matters, said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem should be fired.

    Anti-ICE activists demonstrate outside U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s Philadelphia office on Monday, calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement policies.

    But Fetterman has also said he will not vote to shut down the government. That angered protesters, who rallied on Tuesday outside his Philadelphia office. Some of the senator’s fellow Democrats, including members of Pennsylvania’s U.S. House delegation, urged him to vote against a bill to fund DHS.

    John Fetterman said he won’t vote against DHS funding. Every House Democrat from Pa. is urging him to change his mind

    A growing number of Republicans have also signaled their discomfort with the Minneapolis operation, including Trump allies who called on members of the administration to testify before Congress. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, has called for an independent investigation into Pretti’s killing.

    Trump, for his part, showed some willingness to change course, sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to meet with Democratic leaders there. The president on Tuesday called Pretti’s death a “very sad situation.”

    Rue Landau shown here during a press conference at City Hall to announce a package of bills aimed at pushing back against ICE enforcement in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

    However, a chorus of Democrats and activists said Tuesday that the agency needs to change its tactics and be held accountable for missteps. And local leaders said they are laying out plans in case a surge of immigration enforcement comes to Philadelphia, home to an estimated 76,000 undocumented immigrants.

    “We have spent hours and hours and hours doing tabletop exercises to prepare for it,” Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said during a Monday night interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

    Gov. Shapiro tells Stephen Colbert he’s planning for the possibility of federal troops entering PA

    Shapiro, who is running for reelection and is a rumored presidential contender, added: “I want the good people of Pennsylvania to know — I want the American people to know — that we will do everything in our power to protect them from the federal overreach.”

    Codifying sanctuary policies

    Philadelphia officials said the best way they can prepare is by limiting the city’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

    City Councilmember Kendra Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, and Councilmember Rue Landau, a Democrat, were joined by dozens of activists and other elected officials during a news conference Tuesday to unveil a package of legislation aimed at codifying into law the city’s existing “sanctuary city” practices.

    Those policies, which are currently executive orders, bar city officials from holding undocumented immigrants in custody at ICE’s request without a judicial warrant.

    Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks

    Landau and Brooks’ legislative package, expected to be introduced in Council on Thursday, goes further, preventing ICE agents from wearing masks, using city-owned property for staging raids, or accessing city databases.

    Erika Guadalupe Núñez, executive director of immigrant advocacy organization Juntos, said the legislation “goes beyond just ‘We don’t collaborate.’”

    Juntos gets regular calls about ICE staging operations at public locations in and around Philadelphia, and people have been worried, despite official assurances, whether personal information held by the city will be secure from government prying.

    “We deserve a city that has elected leadership that’s willing to step forward with clear and stronger protections,” Núñez said.

    A protester speaks to a Minnesota State Patrol officer near the site of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.

    If the legislation is approved, Philadelphia would have some of the most stringent protections for immigrants in the country.

    Oregon has especially strong restrictions against cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including barring local law enforcement from detaining people or collecting information on a person’s immigration status without a judicial warrant.

    In Illinois, local officers “may not participate, support, or assist in any capacity with an immigration agent’s enforcement operations.” They are also barred from granting immigration agents access to electronic databases or to anyone in custody.

    California, New York, Colorado, Vermont — and individual jurisdictions in those states — also provide strong protections for immigrants.

    In New Jersey, Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who was sworn in last week, has kept the state’s sanctuary directive in place as lawmakers seek to expand and codify the policy into law. Legislators came close in the final days of former Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, but he killed a related bill that had won approval in Trenton, saying he worried that enacting a law that included changes to the state’s current policy would invite new lawsuits.

    Meanwhile, some conservatives say bolstering sanctuary policies risks community safety.

    “If an illegal immigrant breaks the law, they should be dealt with and handed over to federal law enforcement, not be released back into our neighborhoods to terrorize more victims and commit more crime,” said James Markley, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Republican Party.

    He added: “Sanctuary policies don’t protect communities, they endanger all of us by shielding criminals from accountability for their crimes.”

    Democrats are taking varying approaches

    The widespread outrage over ICE’s tactics in Minneapolis has exposed sharp divisions in elected Democrats’ responses.

    On one end of the party’s ideological spectrum is Fetterman, who has said often that he will not bow to activist demands and strongly opposes shutting down the federal government, even if it means funding DHS.

    On the other end is District Attorney Larry Krasner, Philadelphia’s most prominent progressive, who has on several occasions threatened to file criminal charges against ICE agents who commit crimes in the city.

    “There will be accountability now. There will be accountability in the future. There will be accountability after [Trump] is out of office,” Krasner said Tuesday. “If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities.”

    District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks during a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday to announce a package of bills aimed at pushing back against ICE enforcement in Philadelphia.

    Somewhere in the middle is State Sen. Sharif Street, a Philadelphia Democrat and former head of the state party who is running for Congress.

    Street does not have Krasner’s bombast, but this week he announced plans to introduce legislation to prevent state dollars from funding federal immigration enforcement. The bill has less of a chance of becoming law in Pennsylvania’s divided state legislature than similar measures would in Philadelphia, where City Council is controlled by a supermajority of Democrats.

    “Who knows the amount of money that the state could incur because of Trump’s reckless immigration policies?” Street said in an interview Tuesday. “I don’t think state taxpayers should be paying for Donald Trump’s racist, reckless policies.”

    The city’s most prominent Democrat — Mayor Cherelle L. Parker — has perhaps said the least.

    The centrist Democrat has largely avoided outwardly criticizing Trump or his administration, saying often that she is focused on carrying out her own agenda.

    Mayor Parker’s restraint with Trump is both calculation and gamble as the president escalates against blue cities

    The mayor’s critics have said her approach is not responsive to the city’s overwhelmingly Democratic residents.

    “To the people of Philadelphia, I want to say: I hear you. You want ICE out of our city, and you want your local government to take action,” Brooks, the Council member, said Tuesday. “Some people believe that silence is the best policy when dealing with a bully, but that’s never been an option for me.”

    Kendra Brooks shown here during a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday to announce a package of bills aimed at pushing back against ICE enforcement in Philadelphia.

    Others say Parker’s conflict-averse strategy is appropriate.

    “All of us have different roles to play,” Street said. “The mayor has to manage the city. She’s got to command law enforcement forces. … As a state legislator, we make policy.”

    Rafael Mangual, a fellow who studies urban crime and justice at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute in New York City, said legislative efforts to erect barriers between federal and local law enforcement could backfire.

    “If you don’t engage at all, and you do something that seems to actively frustrate the federal government,” Mangual said, “that would seem to be an invitation for the federal government to prioritize a city like Philadelphia.”

    Staff writers Alfred Lubrano, Aliya Schneider, and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.

  • Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks

    Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks

    Philadelphia lawmakers are set to consider legislation that would make it harder for ICE to operate in the city, including limiting information sharing, restricting activity on city-owned property, and prohibiting agents from concealing their identities.

    Among the package of bills set to be introduced Thursday is an ordinance that effectively makes permanent Philadelphia’s status as a so-called “sanctuary city” by barring city officials from holding undocumented immigrants at ICE’s request without a court order. Another bans discrimination based on immigration status.

    Two City Council members are expected to introduce the legislation as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is facing mounting national scrutiny over its tactics in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens this month.

    Councilmembers Rue Landau, a Democrat, and Kendra Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, said in an interview that the violence in Minneapolis hardened their resolve to introduce legislation to protect a population that includes an estimated 76,000 undocumented immigrants in Philadelphia.

    “It’s been very disheartening and frightening to watch ICE act with such lawlessness,” Landau said. “When they rise to the level of killing innocent civilians, unprecedented murders … this is absolutely the time to stand up and act.”

    The package of a half-dozen bills is the most significant legislative effort that Council has undertaken to strengthen protections for immigrants since President Donald Trump took office last year on a promise to carry out a mass deportation campaign nationwide.

    Left: City Councilmember Rue Landau. Right: City Councilmember Kendra Brooks. Landau and Brooks are introducing legislation this week to make it harder for ICE to operate in Philadelphia, including by limiting city cooperation with the agency.

    ICE spokespeople did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

    Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, said it’s not the job nor the jurisdiction of the city to enforce federal law.

    The goal of the legislation, Rivera said, is ensuring that “not a single dime and single second of our local resources is being spent collaborating with agencies that are executing people.”

    Mayor Cherelle Parker won’t say how Philly is responding to President Donald Trump’s demands on ‘sanctuary’ policies

    Activists have for months urged Mayor Cherelle L. Parker to formally affirm her commitment to the city’s sanctuary status. Top city officials say an executive order signed by the former mayor to limit the city’s cooperation with ICE remains in place.

    But Parker, a centrist Democrat, has taken a quieter approach than her colleagues in Council, largely avoiding criticizing the Trump administration outwardly and saying often that she is focused on her own agenda.

    Now, the mayor could be forced to take a side. If City Council passes Landau and Brooks’ legislation this spring, Parker could either sign the bills into law, veto them, or take no action and allow them to lapse into law without her signature. She has never vetoed a bill.

    Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Parker, declined to comment on the legislation.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks at a news conference earlier this month. It is unclear how she will act on upcoming legislation related to ICE operations in Philadelphia.

    It’s unclear what fate the ICE legislation could meet in Council. The 17-member body has just one Republican, but Parker holds influence with many of the Democrats in the chamber.

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, a Democrat who controls the flow of legislation, has not taken a position on the package proposed by Landau and Brooks.

    But he said in a statement that “Philadelphia has long positioned itself as a welcoming city that values the contributions of immigrants and strives to protect their rights and safety.”

    “I have deep concerns about federal ICE actions directed by President Donald Trump’s administration that sow fear and anxiety in immigrant communities,” Johnson said, “underscoring the belief that enforcement practices should be lawful, humane, and not undermine trust in public safety.”

    Making sanctuary status the law

    Border Patrol and ICE are both federal immigration agencies, which are legally allowed to operate in public places and subject to federal rules and regulations. Some cities and states — not including Pennsylvania and New Jersey — actively cooperate with ICE through written agreements.

    Since 2016, Philadelphia has operated under an executive order signed by former Mayor Jim Kenney, which prohibits city jails from honoring ICE “detainer requests,” in which federal agents ask the city to hold undocumented immigrants in jail for longer than they would have otherwise been in custody to facilitate their arrest by federal authorities.

    Undocumented immigrants are not shielded from federal immigration enforcement, nor from being arrested and charged by local police for local offenses.

    Some refer to the noncooperation arrangement as “sanctuary.” As the term “sanctuary cities” has become politically toxic, some local officials — including in Philadelphia — have backed away from it, instead declaring their jurisdictions to be “welcoming cities.”

    Philadelphia says it’s a ‘welcoming’ — not ‘sanctuary’ — city as the Trump administration threatens funding cuts

    Parker administration officials have said several times over the last year that Philadelphia remains a “welcoming city.”

    Protesters march up Eighth Street, toward the immigration offices, during the Philly stands with Minneapolis Ice Out For Good protest at Philadelphia’s City Hall on Jan. 23.

    But advocates for immigrants have said they want an ironclad city policy that can’t be rescinded by a mayor.

    Landau and Brooks’ legislation would be that, codifying the executive order into law and adding new prohibitions on information sharing. The package includes legislation to:

    • Strengthen restrictions on city workers, including banning local police from carrying out federal immigration enforcement and prohibiting city workers from assisting in enforcement operations.
    • Prohibiting law enforcement officers from concealing their identities, including by wearing masks or covering up badges with identifying information.
    • Banning ICE from staging raids on city-owned property and designated community spaces such as schools, parks, libraries, and homeless shelters. (It would not apply to the Criminal Justice Center, where ICE has had a presence. The courthouse is overseen by both city and state agencies.)
    • Prohibiting city agencies and contractors from providing ICE access to data sets to assist in immigration enforcement.
    • Restricting city employees from inquiring about individuals’ immigration status unless required by a court order, or state or federal law.

    Peter Pedemonti, co-director of New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, an advocacy organization that partnered with the Council members to craft the package of bills, compared ICE to an octopus that has multiple arms reaching into different facets of American life.

    The proposed legislation, he said, is a means to bind a few of those arms.

    “The whole world can see the violence and brutality,” Pedemonti said. “This is a moment where all of us need to stand up, and Philadelphia can stand up and speak out loud and clear that we don’t want ICE here to pull our families apart, the families that make Philadelphia Philadelphia.”

    An impending showdown that Parker hoped to avoid

    Homeland Security officials claim that sanctuary jurisdictions protect criminal, undocumented immigrants from facing consequences while putting U.S. citizens and law enforcement officers in peril.

    Last year, the Trump administration named Philadelphia as among the jurisdictions impeding federal immigration enforcement. The White House has said the federal government will cut off funding to sanctuary cities by Feb. 1.

    However, the president has made no explicit threat to ramp up ICE activities in Philadelphia.

    Some of Parker’s supporters say the mayor’s conflict-averse strategy has spared Philadelphia as other cities such as Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis have seen National Guard troops or waves of ICE agents arrive in force.

    Why hasn’t Trump sent troops to Philly, the city where ‘bad things happen’? Everyone has a theory.
    Residents near the scene of a shooting by a federal law enforcement agent in Minneapolis on Saturday.

    Critics, including the backers of the new legislation, have for months pressed Parker to take a stronger stand.

    Brooks said she “would love to have the support of the administration.”

    “This should be something that we should be working collaboratively on,” she said. “Philadelphia residents are demanding us do something as elected officials, and this is our time to lead.”

    But Parker has not been eager to speak about Philadelphia’s immigration policies.

    For example, the city is refusing to release a September letter it sent to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its immigration-related policies, even after the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled its reasoning for keeping the document secret was invalid. The Inquirer has requested a copy of the letter under the state Right-to-Know Law.

    The new Council legislation and the increasing tension over Trump’s deportation push may force Parker to take a clearer position.

    Notably, the city sued the federal government last week over its removal of exhibits related to slavery from the President’s House at Independence National Historical Park, potentially signaling a new willingness by Parker to push back against the White House.

    But even then, Parker declined to take a jab at Trump.

    “In moments like this,” she said last week, “it requires that I be the leader that I need to be for our city, and I can’t allow my pride, ego, or emotions to dictate what my actions will be.”

  • How Jamie Gauthier charted a new path to power in Philadelphia City Hall

    How Jamie Gauthier charted a new path to power in Philadelphia City Hall

    When Mayor Cherelle L. Parker unveiled her much-anticipated plan to address Philadelphia’s housing crisis last year, there was predictable criticism from the political left. Activists said the proposal drafted by the moderate Democrat would not do enough for the city’s poorest residents.

    Less predictable was that a majority of City Council stood with them.

    Even the Council president, a centrist ally of the mayor, sided with a progressive faction that just two years ago had been soundly defeated in the mayor’s race — but whose new de facto leader in City Hall has proven adept at building alliances across the ideological spectrum.

    At the center of that shift was Jamie Gauthier.

    The second-term Democratic lawmaker from West Philadelphia has solidified herself over the last year as a leading voice on Council and a counterweight to Parker. She has worked within the system as opposed to trying to break it, maintaining relationships with power players who disagree with her on policy.

    She counts Ryan N. Boyer — the labor leader who is Parker’s closest political ally — among those who consider her a “thought leader.”

    “Over the last year, what you saw,” Boyer said, “is her modulate her positions to become more practical.”

    Gauthier has generally voted with progressives, including last year when she opposed the controversial Center City 76ers arena proposal. But she has also endeavored to be a team player, at times compromising on ideological battles to focus on priorities in her district.

    Last year, she voted for Parker’s plan to cut taxes for businesses and corporations when other progressives opposed it, because her main priority was securing housing funding. She has not opposed some tough-on-crime efforts in the Kensington drug market, instead allowing her colleagues who represent that area to dictate the policy there.

    She says she is trying to use her political capital where it matters.

    “Why would I take a protest vote and tank a relationship with a colleague when I’m going to need them later?” she said. “I want to win.”

    Councilmember Jamie Gauthier talks with news media following a special session of City Council on March 24, 2025.

    The fact that Gauthier is a district Council member who represents a large swath of the city west of the Schuylkill also gives her cachet with colleagues. Council has a long tradition of honoring how members want their own neighborhoods to be governed.

    Gauthier, who leads Council’s housing committee, has used the influence to make West Philadelphia something of a testing ground for left-of-center policy. Plenty oppose what they see as draconian restrictions on real estate development in her district.

    Others see a progressive champion, and some political observers think Gauthier could amass enough support to run for mayor one day. She doesn’t deny that she has thought about it.

    But for whatever politics Gauthier can navigate in City Hall, she knows she can rise only if she is successful at home.

    ‘Not just a lone actor’

    When Parker took office, Council was in a moment of upheaval. Council President Kenyatta Johnson was the new leader of the chamber, and several prominent voices were gone after they had resigned to run for mayor themselves.

    One was Helen Gym, who was seen as the leader of Council’s left flank. There were questions about who would fill the void once Gym was gone.

    Gauthier, 47, an urban planner by trade, did not come up through an activist movement in the same way Gym did, and was a bit more reserved in her style.

    But she carries the mantle for the same theory of governance: that lawmakers should prioritize the vulnerable, and that what is good for business is not necessarily good for everyone else.

    That set Gauthier on an ideological collision course with Parker, a former Council member who ran for office on a promise to uplift the middle class, a group the mayor believes has been too often ignored.

    It came to a head in the fight over Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.

    Parker wanted to set unusually high income eligibility thresholds for some of the programs so that middle-class families could unlock government subsidies they may not otherwise qualify for. A significant portion of Council, meanwhile, wanted the money to go initially to Philadelphians most vulnerable to displacement.

    Parker was clear-eyed about who was leading the charge.

    “Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, she may be comfortable and OK with telling Philadelphia homeowners, working-class Philadelphians, that they have to wait and there is no sense of urgency for them,” Parker said in a December interview on WHYY. “But that is not a sentiment that I support or agree with.”

    Gauthier is quick to point out that she did not work alone, and that one member of a 17-member body cannot accomplish much. Alongside Councilmember Rue Landau, a fellow Democrat and a housing attorney by trade, Gauthier worked for months to win over her colleagues.

    In the end, Council approved a version of the housing initiative closer to Gauthier’s vision.

    Gauthier didn’t think Parker helped her own cause. A “line was crossed,” she said, when Parker took the fight outside City Hall and to the pulpit. Amid negotiations with Council, the mayor went to 10 churches on one Sunday in December to lobby for support, saying her vision was to not “pit the ‘have-nots’ against those who have just a little bit.”

    Mayor Parker’s second year saw big wins and signs of tension in Philadelphia City Hall
    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks to the crowd at The Church of Christian Compassion in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Parker visited 10 churches in Philadelphia on Sunday to share details about her HOME housing plan.

    To Gauthier, the divisiveness was coming from the mayor’s office.

    “I wish the mayor and her administration were more open to other people’s ideas, were more OK with disagreement on policy issues, and more aware of Council as a completely separate chamber of government,” Gauthier said, “as opposed to a body that works for her.”

    That is a candid assessment of the relationship between Parker and City Council from Gauthier. Few lawmakers from the mayor’s own party have criticized her publicly.

    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker holds a press conference regarding her first budget flanked by members of city council in her reception room, Philadelphia City Hall on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Council members from left are Kendra Brooks, Jamie Gauthier, council president Kenyatta Johnson, and Quetcy Lozada.

    State Rep. Rick Krajewski, a West Philadelphia Democrat and a progressive who has worked closely with Gauthier, said the fight over H.O.M.E. showed that Gauthier has learned “the diplomacy required to be an effective legislator.”

    “It was a good example of not being afraid of a conflict that felt important to stand up for,” he said, “but then to not just be a lone actor, but organize with other colleagues and allies.”

    Gauthier’s most important ally was Johnson, who negotiated directly with Parker through the process and controls the flow of legislation in the chamber.

    The two go back years. Before Johnson was Council president, he made a point of welcoming new members, a gesture that has always stuck with Gauthier. They worked closely to secure funding for gun violence prevention. And Gauthier said that since Johnson took the gavel, he has been more open to working with progressives than his predecessor was.

    She was also key to Johnson’s ascent. When he was locked in a tight battle for the Council presidency, it was Gauthier who became the ninth Council member to commit to voting for Johnson, allowing him to secure a majority of members and the presidency.

    He does not talk about that publicly. What he will say is that he works in partnership with Gauthier because she understands “the bigger picture in terms of how we move forward as the institution.”

    “I consider her to be a pragmatic idealist,” Johnson said. “She wears her heart on her sleeve, and she really believes in actually doing the work.”

    Creating a testing ground in West Philly

    When Gauthier first ran for office in 2019 against a member of one of Philadelphia’s most entrenched political families, she ran as a good-government urbanist. She railed against councilmanic prerogative, the city’s long tradition of allowing district Council members final say over land-use decisions in their areas.

    She was also supported by real estate interests, some of whom now have buyer’s remorse.

    After Gauthier pulled off a shock win, she arrived in Council and quickly aligned with the progressive bloc. Through her first two terms, she has used councilmanic prerogative often, and has voted with her district Council colleagues so that they can do the same.

    She admits that it is an effective tool for accomplishing her goals quickly.

    Carol Jenkins, a Democratic ward leader in West Philadelphia, said Gauthier’s use of councilmanic prerogative is “part of her maturation.”

    “That’s the power you have,” Jenkins said.

    City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier in her district near 52nd Street and Cedar Avenue in Philadelphia on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025.

    Gauthier has at times used the power in ways that the city’s urbanists and development interests can get behind. She has quickly approved bike lane expansions. And she recently was the only district Council member to allow her entire district to be included in legislation that cuts red tape for restaurants that want to offer outdoor dining.

    However, her most notable use of councilmanic prerogative has been in housing policy, and some developers say her district is now the most hostile to growth in the city.

    In Gauthier’s first term, she championed legislation to create what is known as a Mixed Income Neighborhood overlay. In essence, it requires that developers building projects with 10 or more units in certain parts of her district make at least 20% of their units affordable. That is defined as accessible for rental households earning up to 40% of the area median income.

    For Gauthier, it’s a tool to slow the rapid gentrification of her majority-Black district.

    But developers say that growth has slowed significantly in the areas covered by the overlay since it took effect in 2022. Some have said they avoid seeking to build in the 3rd District entirely. The only major project currently in the works in the area is a parking garage.

    A look at the biggest development projects in Philly

    Ryan Spak, an affordable housing developer who said he considers Gauthier a friend, has been among the most outspoken critics of the overlay. He said while Gauthier’s “moral compass is pointed in the right direction, her policies don’t math.”

    “You would never ask a restaurant to give away its ninth and 10th meal for 40 cents on the dollar, with no additional discounts or benefits,” he said, “and expect that restaurant to survive.”

    Councilmember Jamie Gauthier reads out a citation honoring Rapper Mont Brown during a street naming ceremony for the Southwest Philadelphia native at the 13th Annual Stop the Violence Kickback Block Party at 55th Street and Chester Avenue, in Southwest Philadelphia on August 17, 2024.

    Gauthier said she has made adjustments, and she championed legislation to accelerate permitting and zoning approvals. The mandate, she said, is necessary because the market won’t build enough affordable housing on its own.

    “As untenable as it is to them that they can’t make the numbers work, it’s untenable to me that people can’t afford to live here,” Gauthier said. “So we can come together and we can fix that. But I’m not going to move from my position that we have to demand affordability.”

    Mayoral buzz, but no ‘stupid campaigns’

    Gauthier is one of several names that have been floated in political circles as potential candidates for mayor in 2031, which would be Parker’s final year in office if she runs for and wins a second term. Several of her Council colleagues, including Johnson, are seen as potential contenders.

    “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that mayor could be interesting one day,” Gauthier said. “I also don’t believe in stupid campaigns. So I would never do that if I didn’t think I had a path.”

    Boyer said he has counseled Gauthier to pursue moderate policy and avoid being “label-cast” as far left. He said Philadelphia is not Chicago or New York, and he doesn’t see the city electing an uber-progressive to be the mayor any time soon.

    “Philadelphia has always been a real center-left community,” Boyer said, “and just because you’re the loudest isn’t the most popular.”

    The left may have other plans. Robert Saleem Holbrook, a progressive activist, said that Gauthier would be an “ideal candidate” for higher office and that the city’s leftists would back her.

    Probably.

    “So long as she stays true and supportive of progressive ideals,” Holbrook said. “You can’t compromise on your way up.”

  • Philadelphians have questions about the removal of slavery exhibits. Independence Park employees are being told to give evasive answers

    Philadelphians have questions about the removal of slavery exhibits. Independence Park employees are being told to give evasive answers

    Visitors at Independence National Historical Park strolled through what was left of the President’s House Friday afternoon, some stopping to inspect the blank brick and streaks of glue residue where exhibits about slavery were displayed for 16 years.

    That is, until the National Park Service dismantled them a day prior.

    At about 12:30 p.m. Friday, a group of teachers spent their 45-minute lunch break taping up colorful signs across the bare walls as a small act of resistance: “Learn all history,” and “History is real,” the posters read.

    A group of teachers on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, taped posters along the now barren brick walls of the President’s House.

    But if any of Friday’s visitors had questions about why the slavery exhibits at the President’s House were removed, they’d be hard-pressed to receive an exact answer from park employees.

    Soon after Thursday’s dismantling of the President’s House — which memorializes the nine people George Washington once enslaved there — employees were reminded by the Park Service to use “talking points” that essentially evade visitors’ questions, according to internal correspondence reviewed by The Inquirer.

    The message suggests the following lines to park employees, while also instructing them to answer “truthfully”:

    • “[I am not aware of] why this [exhibit/interpretation materials] has been [changed/removed]”
    • “[Exhibit/interpretation material] has been [updated/removed] to ensure compliance with the Secretary’s Order.”

    “If visitor continues to ask questions that you are unable to answer, politely refer them to AskNPS@nps.gov,” the message further outlined.

    This messaging comes amid the confusion and anger surrounding President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to review or potentially remove content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living,” according to orders from Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

    “It’s outrageous what they’re doing,” said Kaity Berlin, a social studies teacher who was among the group at the park Friday.

    “At the smallest level it’s a waste of resources; at the biggest level, [it’s an] erasure of history,” added Berlin, who declined to say where she worked.

    The President’s House received intense scrutiny from Trump and Burgum’s orders, culminating in the total dismantling of all displays at the site Thursday — even those that were not originally flagged by park staff for review last year.

    It’s not just the public that has questions. Local lawmakers want answers, too.

    On Friday, Democratic U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle, Dwight Evans, and Mary Gay Scanlon, who all represent parts of Philadelphia, penned a letter to Burgum and Park Service Acting Director Jessica Bowron demanding answers to specific questions about the removal by Jan. 30. They also said they believe the dismantling violates an existing agreement between the Park Service and the city.

    “Trying to remove that history just because it makes some people uncomfortable is deeply troubling. When a government starts hiding parts of its past, it begins to look more like a regime that rewrites history rather than one that learns from it,” the lawmakers wrote.

    The lawmakers want to know why the exhibits were taken down and who authorized the decision, according to the letter.

    The letter also asks for information on what role senior Trump administration officials played, where are displays being stored and if there’s plans for them to be reinstalled, and what other documents or items exist related to the removal of the exhibits.

    At the President’s House Friday afternoon, it appeared that many Philadelphians were adamant about preserving this history.

    A bouquet of flowers was placed at the feet of the marble wall inscribed with the names of nine people enslaved there by Washington. A single red rose rested inside one of the site’s fireplaces; a sign, “Slavery was here, Philly hates fascists,” rested against a wall.

    “Everybody has been fighting for so long to teach all pieces of history, not just one side of it,” Berlin, the teacher, said.

  • The Trump administration tore down 400 years of Black history in Philadelphia. So what happens now?

    The Trump administration tore down 400 years of Black history in Philadelphia. So what happens now?

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    What just happened at the President’s House?

    Philadelphians are grappling with the aftermath of Thursday’s abrupt removal of all exhibits at the President’s House ahead of 250th anniversary celebrations.

    Workers remove the display of a panel for Oney Judge at the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.
    Workers remove the display of a panel for Oney Judge at the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
    Published

    More than 400 years of history and a decade of advocacy were torn down Thursday afternoon when National Park Service employees removed every single display at the President’s House, a slavery memorial at Independence National Historical Park.

    The site, which memorializes the nine people George Washington enslaved at his house during the founding of the United States, has now been stripped down to bare brick walls after months of increased scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration.

    On Friday morning, small tokens of Philadelphians’ appreciation for the exhibit and anger at the administration were visible. Someone left a sign propped up against the wall that reads “Slavery was real.” A rose and a bouquet of flowers were also left at the site.

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    Thursday’s sudden removal of the slavery exhibits garnered shock from passersby and ire from elected officials and stakeholders. And the City of Philadelphia also filed a suit against the Department of Interior and the National Park Service and its leadership.

    The removal comes ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4, when Philadelphia and its historic sites, including Independence Park, will be in the national spotlight.

    Many questions remain unanswered in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s efforts to sanitize American history after at least one Independence Park employee flagged 13 items across six exhibits at the President’s House for review last year. Those exhibits, including those entitled “Life Under Slavery” and “The Dirty Business of Slavery,” were taken down Thursday, along with every other educational exhibit and illustration at the site.

    Here’s what could happen next at the President’s House.

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    • Why did the National Park Service take down everything at the President’s House Site?

      Four individuals, at least two of whom were Park Service employees, took down all of the displays at the President’s House Thursday in broad daylight as a result of a months-long push from the Trump administration to review and potentially remove content from national parks that, according to a March 2025 executive order, “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

      Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a similar directive in May 2025.

      While the workers who took down the displays did not explicitly say they were acting in accordance with the executive orders, the Department of Interior later confirmed this to The Inquirer in a statement.

      “The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values. Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order,” a spokesperson said.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • What will happen to the displays that were taken down?

      It’s unclear at the moment.

      On Thursday, the displays were taken down and then loaded into a white Park Service pick up truck. The exhibits were then taken to an undisclosed location and workers did not know if the signs would be replaced.

      Should visitors ask about the removal, Park Service employees have been instructed to follow certain talking points that either avoid answering the question or point to Burgum’s order.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • Was anything else at Independence Park removed?

      The President’s House endured the most scrutiny from the Independence Park review that took place last year, but other items across the park were flagged.

      This includes content referencing slavery at the Benjamin Franklin Museum, the Second Bank, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell but it’s unclear at the moment whether changes are coming to those locations, too.

      Read More

      Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park

      Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.

      As of Friday afternoon, flagged content at the Benjamin Franklin Museum — an interactive touchscreen that allows users to role-play as a historian to understand the evolution of Franklin’s stance on slavery — still included references to slavery. Material at the Liberty Bell calling out “systemic and violent racism and sexism” post-Reconstruction was also seemingly unchanged. Additional exhibits at the Second Bank and Independence Hall were flagged, but both historical sites were closed Friday.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • The Parker administration sued the Interior Department and the Park Service — what’s next?

      The city filed a federal lawsuit Thursday arguing that the removal of exhibits from the President’s House is unlawful, tantamount to the “destruction” of a historic monument designated pursuant to an act of Congress.

      The city is asking an Eastern District of Pennsylvania judge to issue an injunction ordering the Trump administration to restore the President’s House to the way before any panels were removed. The motion also requests that the court prohibit the administration from damaging any of the exhibits and take all steps to preserve them.

      Injunctions are meant to avoid immediate harm so they are litigated much faster than lawsuits, which can take years to resolve. A federal judge is likely to set a hearing within the next few weeks and order the government to submit a brief outlining their arguments against the injunction before the sides meet in court.

      The Department of Interior declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

      During an unrelated news conference on Friday, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker emphasized a cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government dating back to 2006.

      “That agreement requires parties to meet and confer if there are to be any changes made to an exhibit,” Parker said. “Our city solicitor, Renee Garcia, is working in conjunction with the amazing members of our law department team to follow up on that cooperative agreement.”

      Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    • How are Philadelphians planning to keep the story of the President’s House alive?

      The President’s House was shaped by more than a decade of advocacy, directed by Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, a Black-led advocacy group. Avenging the Ancestors has now been leading the charge as part of a new President’s House/Slavery Memorial Alliance, which involves multiple local stakeholders, to protect the site from Trump.

      The alliance is holding a virtual town hall Friday night at 6:45 p.m. where the advocacy group will outline their next steps. Michael Coard, an attorney that leads Avenging the Ancestors, said that “we have a plan.”

      Other community stakeholders are planning to further promote the stories of the President’s House.

      Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philly, the city’s main tourism group, said in an interview Friday that the organization would continue “telling history, telling what actually has happened here, all history, including Black history” by promoting historical information on their website, social platforms, and with tour operators in the city.

      Val had previously indicated that Visit Philly could help find a new place for exhibits removed by the Trump administration, but Val said Friday that before making such moves the group will need to see the outcome of the Parker administration’s lawsuit.

      And Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, which spearheaded a letter campaign to Burgum last year, said the organization would look for any way to support the city’s suit and other advocacy efforts.

      Steinke said Burgum never responded to the group’s letter.

      “Instead they just go down and rip the signs down and rip the exhibits off the walls and walk away and it’s shameful,” Steinke said.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    • What are elected officials saying?

      Local officials have expressed outrage at the dismantling of the President’s House.

      Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, responding to The Inquirer’s reporting, said in a post on X that “Donald Trump will take any opportunity to rewrite and whitewash our history. But he picked the wrong city — and he sure as hell picked the wrong Commonwealth. We learn from our history in Pennsylvania, even when it’s painful.”

      U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa) said the changes are an “outrage,” and noted his full support for the city’s suit.

      “True patriotism requires facing our nation’s past – and learning from it. The Trump-Vance administration may try to whitewash an exhibit, but they cannot erase the shame of what they have done.” said Evans, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

      U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa), who represents the area including Independence Park, said in a statement that the removal is “absolutely unacceptable.”

      “With the National Park Service facing budget cuts as our nation prepares for its 250th anniversary, this administration should be strengthening these historic sites, not censoring them to erase the past,” Boyle wrote. “Philadelphia and the entire country deserve an honest accounting of our history, and this effort to hide it is wrong.”

      Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement late Thursday night that removing the exhibits is “totally unacceptable” and signaled his support for the mayor’s lawsuit.

      “Removing the exhibits is an effort to whitewash American history,” Johnson said. “History cannot be erased simply because it is uncomfortable. Removing items from the President’s House merely changes the landscape, not the historical record.”

      Johnson and other members of City Council supported a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s scrutiny of the President’s House last year.

      In a statement backing the city’s suit Friday, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson said that “removing these exhibits adds to a troubling pattern of racist and bigoted actions that sow division, perpetuate hatred, and betray the very values our nation claims to uphold.”

      “In a year when Philadelphia will stand on the world stage to mark America’s 250th Anniversary, we have a duty to defend truth, not deny it,” Gilmore Richardson said.

      Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Staff Contributors

    • Reporting: Fallon Roth, Abraham Gutman, and Maggie Prosser
    • Editing: Bryan Lowry
    • Photography: Tom Gralish and Elizabeth Robertson
    • Digital Editing: Patricia Madej

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    Topics mentioned in this story

    Donald Trump

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  • Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park

    Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park

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    Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park

    Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.

    National Park Service workers remove the displays at the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. More than a dozen displays about slavery were flagged for the Trump administration’s review, with the House coming under particular scrutiny.
    Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
    Published

    On Thursday, the National Park Service dismantled exhibits about slavery at the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park. This follows orders by President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to remove content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the U.S.

    As part of a review ordered by Trump’s administration in August 2025, National Park Service employees flagged many issues across seven panels in and around the President’s House site.

    Here are some of the signs that were removed and why they were flagged:

    • The President’s House site has a complex history dating back to a 1997 plan for redesigning Independence Mall that did not include its memorialization and according to Inquirer archives, the National Park Service initially did not want to have the site studied. Local Black activists and historians led an effort to excavate the site and create an exhibit that made enslaved individuals who lived and worked in the President’s House a focal point of the historic monument. Developed through a collaboration between the activists, the NPS and others, the President’s House opened to the public in 2010.

    • A section on a panel that describes the history of the President’s house was flagged for mentioning that history and showing “negativity towards the National Park Service.” Seth C. Bruggeman, a professor of history at Temple University, noted that the site is now important not only for its subject matter, but because of the power of the community members who fought for it and helped develop it.

      “Trump can change whatever sign he likes,” said Bruggeman, “but that won't erase the memory of Philadelphians coming together to insist on an honest reckoning with our past.”

    • Most other passages that were flagged seemingly respond to the “disparagement of historical figures” part of Trump’s order. On the same panel, National Park employees flagged the use of the words “profoundly disturbing” to describe Washington transporting enslaved people between Virginia and Pennsylvania.

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    • A panel describing life under slavery was flagged three times. NPS comments questioned whether George Washington’s motivation to have a steward sign an advertisement seeking the return of a slave who escaped the President’s house could be known.

      Cory Young, an assistant history professor at the University of Iowa and a scholar of abolition and slavery in the American North, says that historians are generally in agreement that Washington was very aware of his public image and the fact that he was setting precedent for future American presidents.

    • Descriptions of the treatment of enslaved individuals at the hands of slaveholders and how Africans were kidnapped and brought to America were also flagged. These passages don’t appear to have been flagged for any factual inaccuracies. It’s possible they were flagged because descriptions of brutality against slaves could be interpreted as reflecting negatively on past Americans.

    • An illustration depicting Washington signing the Fugitive Slave Act while a group of white men are depicted with clubs and guns shooting at Black men was also flagged for review. Similar to the previous panel, park comments don’t dispute any facts depicted in the illustration.

    • A wayside sign introducing the President’s House Site was flagged for saying that the Adams household “possibly” hired enslaved people to work in the President’s house. While we know the Adams household hired African Americans, due to scarce documentation about slavery during the early American Era, it’s difficult for historians to say with certainty whether any of them were enslaved.

    • A panel titled The Dirty Business of Slavery was also flagged twice. Text describing the growth of the enslaved population as a result of both natural increase, but also as a result of rape and forced breeding, was flagged. NPS staff flagged the text, but didn’t include any concerns about facts depicted.

    • An entry in the Slavery Timeline on this panel was also flagged because an image near the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act entry references the “much harsher” 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. Young believes this is more a layout issue than an issue with historical accuracy as both images are labeled correctly and the timeline later contains an entry for the 1850 law.

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    • A panel about the executive branch was flagged for review twice. First, NPS comments appear to take issue with the panel’s interpretation of why Southern delegates favored a site along the Potomac River for the new capital city. The panel doesn’t explicitly say that Southern delegates preferred this location because Maryland and Virginia were both slave states, but might have been flagged because of the association of slavery with the creation of the new nation’s capital.

    • The panel was also flagged because “it gives no background as to why” neither John Adams nor George Washington commented on petitions or publications protesting slavery. According to Young, it wasn’t common at the time for the president to speak about slavery as a political issue in public speeches or petitions.

    • National Park employees submitted three items for review on a panel describing the people who lived in the President’s House, both free and enslaved. According to NPS comment, “the timeline calls out everyone who lived there and who was a slaveholder. No other descriptors are used.” However, the panel also describes Mary Lawrence Masters as a wealthy widow of the former mayor and describes Robert Morris additionally as a financier. George Washington is not explicitly described as a slaveholder nor as president, though his roles as both are described elsewhere on this panel and throughout the exhibit.

    • The NPS also flagged a subtitle on the panel for review: Washington’s Deceit. Saying that “The section speaks of Washington secretly rotating his enslaved laborers between Mt. Vernon and the President’s House in order to take advantage of a loophole in Pennsylvania’s abolition law. The panel demonstrates that he was secretive, but not deceitful.”

      NPS staffers didn’t question the factual basis of the panel. Young noted that while historians might never be able to know if George Washington felt as if he was being deceitful or secretive, they do know that by rotating slaves between Pennsylvania and Virginia, Washington was attempting to avoid freeing any of his slaves under Pennsylvania’s gradual abolition law.

    • NPS also flagged panel text regarding Martha Washington that says “evidence suggests that she accepted the institution of slavery,” noting that the panel does not direct to any evidence. Use of the word “accepted” doesn’t explicitly suggest that she advocated for or against slavery publicly. The panel describes her inheriting slaves and passing at least some enslaved individuals down to her children after her death.

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    Staff Contributors

    • Design, Development, and Reporting: Aileen Clarke
    • Editing: Sam Morris and Ariella Cohen
    • Photography: Tom Gralish
    • Photo Editing: Frank Wiese
    • Digital Editing: Patricia Madej

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  • Mayor Cherelle Parker’s housing plan is back on track after Council again reapproved $800 million in city bonds

    Mayor Cherelle Parker’s housing plan is back on track after Council again reapproved $800 million in city bonds

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s housing initiative is back on track.

    In its first meeting of the year, City Council on Thursday reapproved a bill to authorize the administration to issue $800 million in bonds to fund the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.

    Parker wasted no time, signing the bill into law at a news conference Thursday afternoon to fast-track the process for the city to sell the first $400 million tranche of bonds in late March or early April. The administration plans to sell the second $400 million in 2027.

    “We are signing into law the largest and most significant investment in housing in the city of Philadelphia’s history, a $2 billion plan that will create and preserve 30,000 units of housing here in the city of Philadelphia,” Parker said, citing a sum for H.O.M.E.’s budget that also includes other funding steams and the value of city-owned land the administration hopes to redevelop into housing through the plan.

    In March 2025, when Parker unveiled her housing plan — with the goal of helping the city build or preserve 30,000 units of housing in her first term — she wanted to issue the bonds that fall. Council initially approved the bond authorization and other legislation related to H.O.M.E. in June.

    But in the fall, lawmakers made significant changes to a related piece of legislation — which details the $277 million first-year budget for spending the bond proceeds — that triggered a redo of the bond bill.

    The most notable changes, championed by progressive Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier and Rue Landau, lowered the income thresholds for some of the programs funded by H.O.M.E. to prioritize lower-income Philadelphians.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker unveils her long-awaited plan to build or preserve 30,000 units of housing during a special session of City Council Monday, Mar. 24, 2025. Council President Kenyatta Johnson is at left.

    Parker opposed the amendment, and administration officials testified that H.O.M.E. was meant to serve residents at a variety of income levels, including middle-class households that are struggling but often make too much to qualify for government support programs.

    But Council members argued that even with the new infusion of funds, Philadelphia’s resources are too limited to help the city’s hundreds of thousands of impoverished residents — let alone aid middle-income residents as well.

    “City Council demonstrated through its actions — not just its words — that it’s serious about putting City Hall to work for communities that have too often been left behind,” Gauthier, Landau, and their allies said in a group statement Thursday.

    Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives

    The dispute proved to be the most significant public disagreement to date between Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who sided with Gauthier and Landau.

    The changes required Council to pass an updated bond authorization before moving forward because the previously adopted version no longer aligned with the language in the budget resolution. Lawmakers ran out of time to pass the new bond bill before adjourning for their winter break in December.

    They approved it unanimously on Thursday.

    A couple of hours later, Johnson and Parker profusely praised each other at the bill-signing ceremony, going out of their way to show that their strong working relationship remains intact now that the conflict was behind them.

    “My commitment is to make sure that our 100th, first woman, mayor is successful,” Johnson said.

    The moment of congeniality was a stark contrast to the dynamic between the two late last year.

    Parker at one point said Council’s delay “means homes are not being restored” and “homes are not being built or repaired.” Johnson fired back, “Council’s responsibility is not to rubber-stamp legislation.”

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson speaking at the City Council’s first session of the year in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.

    But on Thursday, there was enough feel-good energy between the mayor and Council that it extended beyond Johnson to members who have more frequently clashed with the administration.

    Gauthier and Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who questioned the mayor’s agenda last year over concerns that she was taking out too much debt for housing, also stood alongside the mayor at Thursday’s news conference.

    After the delays to her agenda at the end of last year, the mayor appears to be trying to regain control of the narrative this week. Thursday’s bill-signing ceremony marked Parker’s third major update related to H.O.M.E. in three days.

    On Tuesday, she announced that her administration was partnering with the city’s building trades unions and the Philadelphia Housing Authority to redevelop the Brith Sholom House, a notoriously dilapidated senior facility that closed in 2024, into affordable housing for seniors.

    And on Wednesday, she laid out a vision to build a modular housing manufacturing facility on the long-vacant Logan Triangle tract in North Philadelphia. The city issued a request for information from developers potentially interested in building such factories in the city, with a deadline in late March.

    Parker on Thursday only indirectly responded to a question about how many units could be built or repaired in the two years left in her term.

    But she said that her administration is working on a second package of zoning legislation to accelerate home construction in Philadelphia, and that she is working with Council to speed 1,000 properties through the land bank.

    She also expects Gov. Josh Shapiro, at his forthcoming budget address, to announce state-level housing reforms that would help “as it relates to streamlining state processes [to] run more efficiently.”

    Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.

  • The Philadelphia school district’s facilities plan did not go over well in City Council

    The Philadelphia school district’s facilities plan did not go over well in City Council

    City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said the Philadelphia School District showed “just a complete lack of thought and consideration for really important programs” when crafting its long-anticipated facilities plan, released Thursday.

    Council President Kenyatta Johnson said his members had “a lot of concerns.”

    And City Councilmember Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr. went so far as to propose amending the city Home Rule Charter to allow Council to remove the school board members who will consider the proposed closures.

    “If you are closing schools during a literacy crisis, then you should be held directly accountable to the people you serve,” Young said.

    To put it mildly, the district’s plan did not go over well in Council.

    Live updates: 20 schools slated for closure as school district unveils master plan

    In many ways, it’s unsurprising Council members would speak out against a plan that would close or consolidate schools in their districts. But the pushback from lawmakers Thursday was notably strong, and Young’s proposal to allow Council to remove school board members could dramatically reshape the politics of the district.

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    Currently, the mayor appoints the nine members of the school board, and Council votes to confirm them. Allowing lawmakers to remove board members would shift the balance of power toward the legislative branch and effectively leave the district’s leaders with 18 bosses — the mayor and the 17 Council members.

    Significantly, Johnson immediately endorsed Young’s plan, which would have to be approved by city voters in a ballot question.

    “It’s a good check-and-balance in terms of the process, and also allows us to have the ability and the opportunity to make sure that anything that the school board does is done with transparency,” Johnson told reporters. “I‘m always for, as members of City Council and this body in this institution, having the opportunity to provide accountability.”

    What’s happening to your Philly school under the proposed facilities master plan?

    Left unsaid was that the long-awaited facilities plan did not come from the school board — its members have yet to approve the proposal, which was presented to lawmakers this week by Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.

    Still, the pushback was notable in part because it came from lawmakers who are often on opposite sides of debates about education policy. Johnson is an advocate for charter schools, while Gauthier is a progressive ally of the teachers union who is often critical of the so-called school choice movement.

    Gauthier said the plan would limit opportunities in her West Philadelphia-based 3rd District. She pointed to changes including Robeson High School and Parkway West ceasing to exist as standalone schools (Robeson would merge into Sayre and Parkway West into SLA Beeber), and the Workshop School colocating with Overbrook High. (The Workshop, however, would remain a distinct school, just in a new location.)

    “What are people supposed to do for good high school options in West Philadelphia?” Gauthier said in an interview.

    Jamie Gauthier. First day of fall session, Philadelphia City Council, Thursday, September 11, 2025.

    Gauthier added that while Watlington has talked at length about the district avoiding the mistakes of its widely criticized 2012 school closure plan, it appears doomed to repeat that history.

    “That’s a great thing to hold up every time we have this conversation, but how are you solving for it?” Gauthier said. “You can’t state all of the things that went wrong and then present a plan that seems to lack care in the same way as the plan in 2012.”

    Johnson said the discussion over the plan was far from complete.

    “I’m sure it’s going to be a very, very robust process,” he said. “These are only recommendations. This isn’t the final product.”

    Watlington’s plan will touch every part of the city. It includes 20 school closures, six colocations, with two separate schools existing inside a single building, and more changes. It also includes modernizing more than 150 schools over 10 years, though officials have not yet revealed which buildings will get the upgrades.

    In total, the blueprint would cost $2.8 billion — though the district is proposing funding only $1 billion of that with capital borrowing. The rest of the money would come from the state and from philanthropic sources, and if those dollars don’t come through, fewer repairs could happen.

    Nearly all Council members on Thursday said they understood the need to consolidate schools, but each had concerns about how individual closures would affect the communities they serve.

    Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., whose district includes parts of West and Northwest Philadelphia, said some of the changes are encouraging, including an expansion of career and technical education planned for some schools, including Overbrook High.

    But, he said, others could combine students who come from different neighborhoods and backgrounds, and the district must consider the social impacts of merging those populations.

    “The places where the kids come from, that is always a dynamic that is under-considered,” Jones said. “If I live in this neighborhood and got to travel to that neighborhood, what are the historical dynamics?”

    And Councilmember Cindy Bass, who represents parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia, said two of the schools in her district slated for closure — Fitler Academics Plus School and Parkway Northwest High School — “are models of great public education.”

    “I don’t understand why they are targeted when they are very well-regarded and lots of kids want to go there,” Bass said. “If it’s not broken, why are we trying to fix this?”

    It’s unclear how much sway members will have over where the district ultimately lands. Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the Education Committee and represents the city at-large, warned of a “long and emotional” journey ahead.

    “There’s always an emotional attachment to schools,” he said. “They are a pillar in a lot of neighborhoods.”

    Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.

  • The slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been removed following Trump administration push

    The slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been removed following Trump administration push

    The National Park Service dismantled exhibits about slavery at the President’s House Site in Independence National Historical Park, provoking a lawsuit from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration.

    The President’s House, which serves as a memorial to the nine people George Washington enslaved there during the founding of the United States, has come under increased scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration. The president and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last spring ordered displays at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the U.S. to be reviewed and potentially removed.

    Around 3 p.m. Thursday, an Independence Park employee who would not give his name told an Inquirer reporter that his supervisor had instructed him to take down all the displays at the iconic site earlier that day. Three other individuals later joined the employee to help remove the educational exhibits. The final display was removed at 4:30 p.m. The displays were then loaded into the back of a white Park Service pickup truck.

    Here is what the Trump administration removed from Independence Park

    “I’m just following my orders,” the employee repeatedly said, not acknowledging if he was tasked with removing the displays because of the executive order.

    Workers remove the display panels about slavery at the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. The fate of exhibits at the site, which serves as a memorial to the nine people George Washington enslaved there during the founding of America, had been in limbo since President Trump’s executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” directed the Department of the Interior to review over 400 national sites to remove or modify interpretive materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

    One by one, the exhibits — including those titled “Life Under Slavery” and “The Dirty Business of Slavery” — were taken down.

    The demolition Thursday, with wrenches and crowbars, elicited questions — and exclamations, like “this is crazy” and “damn shame” — from a few passersby.

    At least one asked if the exhibits are coming down “because of this administration.”

    Another, Jali Wicker, 74, was walking through Independence Mall when he stopped and asked why the content was being removed.

    Wicker, who recorded as NPS workers unscrewed bolts from the brick walls, said the sight overwhelmed and disturbed him.

    “You can try to erase our history, but we’re still going to survive,” Wicker said. “History has shown that, slavery has shown that. … And you want to go back?”

    Michael Coard, leader of the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, which has helped lead an effort to protect the President’s House from the Trump administration, said in an interview Thursday that the removal of the displays is an “abomination” and called Trump a “monstrosity in the White House.”

    Trump can try to hide it, but slavery is part of America’s story | Opinion

    “It’s a disgrace, and that’s an understatement,” Coard said. “I cannot say what I’m thinking, because as a criminal defense attorney, I know better. What’s going on now is absolutely unheard of in the history of the United States of America.”

    Jack Williams, 47, shouted at NPS workers as they loaded the panels into the bed of a department pickup truck.

    “It’s absolutely sickening,” Williams said. He took issue with workers complying with the executive order, and urged defiance by federal employees.

    Williams’ message: “Take a day off, call in sick. Don’t be the one on the news … whitewashing history.”

    Mijuel Johnson, a community organizer who leads the Black Journey: African American History Walking Tour and works with Avenging the Ancestors, called the action “outrageous.”

    “We see how brave [NPS employees] are,” Johnson said. “My ancestors were brave enough to run from tyranny and these guys can’t be brave enough to oppose an order to take down some plaques.”

    Johnson added: “Our history will be taught — it’ll be taught as it should be, warts and all.”

    Representatives of the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service did not immediately return a request for comment.

    The move comes in advance of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States on July Fourth, when Philadelphia and its historic exhibits will be in the national spotlight.

    The fate of exhibits at the President’s House has been in limbo for months since the Department of the Interior signaled it would review and potentially remove flagged displays.

    More than a dozen displays about slavery were flagged for the Trump administration’s review, with the President’s House coming under particular scrutiny, The Inquirer reported. Removal of noncompliant displays was initially slated to come on Sept. 17.

    But that didn’t happen — until now.

    Instead, Philadelphians continued their advocacy and efforts to protect the President’s House. Leading the charge is the President’s House/Slavery Memorial Alliance, spearheaded by Avenging the Ancestors and other stakeholders who helped shape the site in the early 2000s.

    Coard said Thursday that his team anticipated something like this happening and that “we have a plan.”

    Elected officials, including Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of Philadelphia City Council, previously condemned the sanitization of historical exhibits.

    Parker on Thursday, after her administration filed its lawsuit, said that the city and federal government in 2006 signed a cooperative agreement that may require advance notice for changes to the site. The city is reviewing its options, she said.

    “We are right now researching and reviewing the cooperative agreement between the City of Philadelphia and federal government that dates back to 2006,” she said. “It requires parties to meet and confer if there are any changes to be made to any exhibit, so anything that is outside that agreement, it requires that our Law Department review it.”

    Parker, the city’s first Black female mayor, has avoided confrontation with Trump since he took office last year. Asked what her personal feelings are about the federal government removing material on slavery, Parker demurred.

    “In moments like this, it requires that I be the leader that I need to be for our city, and I can’t allow my pride, ego, or emotions to dictate what my actions will be,” she said.

    The city’s lawsuit names Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron. The complaint asks a judge to order that the removal of “interpretive panels referencing slavery” was an “arbitrary and capricious” act, making it unlawful.

    There is no dispute over the fact that slaves resided at the President’s House or that Washington owned slaves, the suit says.

    Furthermore, the President’s House has been designated a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site pursuant to a 1998 act of Congress. In removing exhibits referencing slavery, the Trump administration acted without statutory authority, the city argues.

    “Defendants have provided no explanation at all for their removal of the historical, educational displays at the President’s House site, let alone a reasoned one,” the lawsuit says.

    Independence Park employees were tasked with evaluating displays for content that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living,” according to Trump’s March 2025 executive order.

    A total of 13 items across six exhibits at the President’s House were initially flagged for the Trump administration’s review, but on Thursday everything was taken down.

    This included parts of displays titled: “Life Under Slavery,” “History Lost & Found,” “The Executive Branch,” “The Dirty Business of Slavery,” “The House and the People Who Worked & Lived In It,” and an illustration with the words “An Act respecting fugitives from Justice.”

    Other exhibits across the park were flagged for review, but it is unclear if there are plans for park employees to also remove those displays.

    Staff writers Abraham Gutman and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.

  • A Philly lawmaker refused to advance her colleague’s reproductive healthcare legislation. Now she’s promoting her own.

    A Philly lawmaker refused to advance her colleague’s reproductive healthcare legislation. Now she’s promoting her own.

    They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Kendra Brooks isn’t taking kindly to a recent gesture of duplication by one of her colleagues.

    The progressive City Council member is incensed at Councilmember Nina Ahmad, a Democrat who has been in something of cold war with Brooks for months over stalled legislation related to reproductive healthcare access.

    It all came to a head Thursday when Ahmad introduced a resolution to hold a hearing examining access to such care in Philadelphia — legislation that would, under most circumstances, be uncontroversial in a body where Democrats hold a supermajority.

    But Brooks and Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, both of the progressive Working Families Party, voted against it — a highly unusual move in a body that almost always unanimously approves legislation to authorize hearings.

    The backstory: Brooks had already authored legislation to hold a hearing on threats to reproductive healthcare, and City Council approved it five months ago.

    But the hearings have not happened. Ahmad, who chairs the Public Health and Human Services Committee, has refused to schedule Brooks’ hearing, citing scheduling difficulties. That was despite pleas from advocates to move swiftly amid new federal restrictions on reproductive care and clinics closing due to funding loss.

    Now, Ahmad is poised to call up her own legislation on the matter, leaving Brooks and her allies feeling squeezed out.

    Ahmad said her legislation is far more broad than Brooks’ and would allow Council to examine the entire reproductive healthcare landscape, not just access to abortion care.

    The Council member who authors a resolution to hold a hearing typically has sway over how the hearing is conducted, including steering the tenor of it by lining up witnesses to testify. In turn, that can drive the creation of more concrete legislation.

    “You have to be comprehensive,” Ahmad said in an interview. “I’m evidence-based. I’m a scientist. I want to look at the whole breadth of things.”

    City Councilmember Kendra Brooks stands in Council during the first day of the fall session in September.

    But Brooks said she is focused on all forms of reproductive healthcare and criticized Ahmad’s legislation for failing to acknowledge the role of the city’s Reproductive Freedom Task Force, which Brooks leads. Members of that group called for Council hearings after local Planned Parenthood leaders said they were disappointed that the most recent city budget did not include a $500,000 line item for sexual and reproductive healthcare, as it did the previous year.

    Brooks said Ahmad was engaging in “foolishness.”

    “This is a level of petty that turns people off from politics,” she said. “It’s really unfortunate that she would play politics on an issue that’s this important.”

    And Brooks intimated that the saga could cause her and her progressive allies to target Ahmad next year, when every City Council member is up for reelection.

    “I’m not going to forget this,” Brooks said. “We’re very close to reelection to be playing this game.”

    The veiled threat from Brooks, the face of the city’s Working Families Party, is notable and could put the WFP on a collision course with the local Democratic Party — which tends to endorse incumbents such as Ahmad. The WFP has previously said its efforts to win minority-party seats on Council are no threat to Democrats.

    However, in 2023 when both Brooks and Ahmad were running for seats on Council to represent the city at-large, Ahmad said that the WFP was trying to “poach” Democratic voters and that its political strategy was “lazy.”

    But Ahmad said Thursday she is not playing politics.

    “She’s the one,” Ahmad said of Brooks. “I’m the chair of the Public Health Committee, and I need to be aware of what work is going on in these respects. And if people don’t want to share, that’s up to them.”

    Brooks said she plans to hold her own hearing in March — what she is calling a “people’s hearing” that will take place outside the walls of City Hall.

    Some advocates say they will participate in both that event and Ahmad’s traditional hearing.

    Signe Espinoza, the vice president of public policy and advocacy at Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said she is supportive of any legislation that elevates the issue — no matter the author.

    “We are committed to keeping the doors open, and we also recognize that this is the most hostile environment we’ve ever been in,” Espinoza said, noting that clinics have closed across the country. “The clock is ticking.”