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  • Trump’s border czar announces 700 immigration officers to immediately leave Minnesota

    Trump’s border czar announces 700 immigration officers to immediately leave Minnesota

    The Trump administration is reducing the number of immigration officers in Minnesota but will continue its enforcement operation that has sparked weeks of tensions and deadly confrontations, border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday.

    About 700 federal officers — roughly a quarter of the total deployed to Minnesota — will be withdrawn immediately after state and local officials agreed over the past week to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants, Homan said.

    But he did not provide a timeline for when the administration might end the operation that has become a flashpoint in the debate over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts since the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

    About 2,000 officers will remain in the state after this week’s drawdown, Homan said. That’s roughly the same number sent to Minnesota in early January when the surge ramped up, kicking off what the Department of Homeland Security called its ” largest immigration enforcement operation ever.”

    Since then, masked, heavily armed officers have been met by resistance from residents who are upset with their aggressive tactics.

    A widespread pullout, Homan said, will occur only after protesters stop interfering with federal agents carrying out arrests and setting up roadblocks to impede the operations.

    Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats who have heavily criticized the surge, said pulling back 700 officers was a good first step but that the entire operation should end quickly.

    “We need a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution,” Walz posted on social media.

    Vice President JD Vance said the officers being sent home were mainly in Minneapolis to protect those carrying out arrests. “We’re not drawing down the immigration enforcement,” Vance said in an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show.

    Trump administration has pushed for cooperation in Minnesota

    Trump’s border czar took over the Minnesota operation in late January after the second fatal shooting by federal officers and amid growing political backlash and questions about how the operation was being run.

    Homan said right away that federal officials could reduce the number of agents in Minnesota, but only with the cooperation of state and local officials. He pushed for jails to alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement about inmates who could be deported, saying transferring those inmates to ICE is safer because it means fewer officers have to be out looking for people in the country illegally.

    Homan said during a news conference Wednesday that there has been an “increase in unprecedented collaboration” resulting in the need for fewer public safety officers in Minnesota and a safer environment, allowing for the withdrawal of the 700 officers.

    He didn’t say which jurisdictions have been cooperating with DHS

    The Trump administration has long complained that places known as sanctuary jurisdictions — a term applied to local governments that limit law enforcement cooperation with the department — hinder the arrest of criminal immigrants.

    Minnesota officials say its state prisons and nearly all of the county sheriffs already cooperate with immigration authorities.

    But the two county jails that serve Minneapolis and St. Paul and take in the most inmates had not previously met ICE’s standard of full cooperation, although they both hand over inmates to federal authorities if an arrest warrant has been signed by a judge.

    The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, which serves Minneapolis and several suburbs, said its policies have not changed. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in neighboring St. Paul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Border czar calls Minnesota operation a success

    Homan said he thinks the ICE operation in Minnesota has been a success, checking off a list of people wanted for violent crimes who were taken off the streets.

    “I think it’s very effective as far as public safety goes,” he said Wednesday. “Was it a perfect operation? No.”

    He also made clear that pulling a chunk of federal officers out of Minnesota isn’t a sign that the administration is backing down. “We are not surrendering the president’s mission on a mass deportation operation,” Homan said.

    “You’re not going to stop ICE. You’re not going to stop Border Patrol,” Homan said of the ongoing protests. “The only thing you’re doing is irritating your community”

    Schools ask court to block immigration operations

    Two Minnesota school districts and a teachers union filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block federal authorities from conducting immigration enforcement at or around schools.

    The lawsuit says actions by DHS and its ICE officers have disrupted classes, endangered students and driven families away from schools.

    It also argues that Operation Metro Surge has marked a shift in policy that removed long-standing limits on enforcement activity in “sensitive locations,” including schools.

    Homeland Security officials have not responded to a request for comment.

  • ICE buys $87 million warehouse in Berks County as it plots expansion of immigration detention centers across the U.S.

    ICE buys $87 million warehouse in Berks County as it plots expansion of immigration detention centers across the U.S.

    UPPER BERN, Pa. — The Trump administration has quietly purchased a nearly 520,000-square-foot warehouse in Berks County as it plans to convert such facilities into immigration detention centers across the U.S.

    The warehouse, located at 3501 Mountain Rd. in Upper Bern Township, was sold to the U.S. government on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for $87.4 million, deed records show. The purchase was recorded on Feb. 2.

    Spotlight PA visited the warehouse, which is located about a mile from I-78, on Jan. 15 and witnessed about two dozen individuals touring the exterior of the building. One man who arrived early to the site that day identified himself to a reporter as ICE.

    Josh Shapiro is increasingly critical of ICE in Minneapolis. Some point out he still cooperates with the agency.

    The property was most recently called the Hamburg Logistics Center, and before that was the site of the Mountain Springs Arena, a county landmark known for rodeos and demolition derbies. It neighbors an Amazon warehouse and the Mountain Springs Camping Resort.

    The building is one of at least 23 that ICE plans to convert into immigration detention facilities, Bloomberg reports. The Berks County warehouse could house up to 1,500 beds.

    ICE also finalized the purchase of a warehouse in nearby Tremont Township, in Schuylkill County, on Monday, according to a deed. The Tremont property is located less than 300 yards from a daycare center and has already faced fierce resident opposition.

    A spokesperson for ICE did not answer any questions about the Berks County warehouse purchase and instead lauded the agency’s targeting of “vicious criminals.”

    “Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities,” the spokesperson said.

    Philly DA Larry Krasner says ‘don’t be a wimp’ after Gov. Josh Shapiro decried his comparison of ICE agents to Nazis

    Upper Bern Township’s solicitor said in an emailed statement that community leaders learned about the sale on Monday. They declined to answer questions.

    “The township was not involved in this transfer and has not received any applications from either the prior or new owners regarding the future use of the property,” the statement reads. “The township has no further comment on this matter at this time.”

    State Sen. Chris Gebhard and State Rep. Jamie Barton, Republicans who represent the area, said they have reached out to federal contacts to gather more information on how the Department of Homeland Security plans to use the warehouse.

    “Our immediate concerns include the potential loss of property tax revenue for the host municipality, county, and school district, as well as security and perimeter considerations,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “We look forward to engaging directly with the appropriate federal officials to address these issues. Once additional information is available, we will provide an update.”

    The property is assessed at $22 million and currently pays $198,286 annually in county property taxes under the current tax rate of 9.013 mills. Combined with Hamburg Area School District and township taxes, the loss of tax revenue from the federal government’s purchase would be about $624,000.

    State Sen. Judy Schwank (D., Berks) declined to comment on the warehouse purchase on Monday. In an earlier interview with Spotlight PA, she called the then-potential sale “deeply concerning,” especially given the reports of mistreatment of people detained in ICE facilities. She released a statement about “ICE’s action in Minneapolis” on Jan. 27, shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti.

    “My concern is, knowing the track record of some of these other facilities located throughout the country, it’s not good,” she said. “I don’t necessarily want to see something like that being housed in our county.”

    The deed finalized on Monday shows the property was sold to ICE by an LLC connected to PCCP, a national commercial real estate equity firm. The firm purchased the warehouse in 2024 for $57.5 million, deed records show.

    Reached by phone Monday afternoon, PCCP partner Greg Eberhardt — who is the authorized signatory for 3501 Mountain Road Owner LLC on the latest deed — denied knowledge of the property and its sale, and refused to comment further.

    “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Eberhardt said before hanging up on a Spotlight PA reporter. “I’m not making company comments.”

    Upper Bern Township is situated on the edge of Berks and Schuylkill Counties, with a population of roughly 1,600 people. The community is mostly white, with only 2.8% of residents identifying as another race, according to the 2020 Census.

    Bridget Cambria, an attorney with Aldea, a nonprofit that provides pro bono immigration legal services, said the detention center would have a “disruptive” and “chilling” impact on Berks County’s immigrant community.

    “If there are people that live freely and at peace knowing that they do the right thing, they can do their immigration process or stay with their family or figure out a way to legalize their status, they’re going to be more afraid to do that with a giant detention center in their backyard,” Cambria said.

    A 2022 study by the Detention Watch Center and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center found that immigrants were more likely to be arrested by ICE in counties with more detention bed space.

    This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks.

    BEFORE YOU GO … If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.

  • Josh Shapiro is increasingly critical of ICE in Minneapolis. Some point out he still cooperates with the agency.

    Josh Shapiro is increasingly critical of ICE in Minneapolis. Some point out he still cooperates with the agency.

    WASHINGTON — In a string of public appearances since federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, Gov. Josh Shapiro has repeatedly decried the federal immigration operation in Minnesota as unconstitutional and called on President Donald Trump to “terminate the mission.”

    The centrist Democratic governor leaned heavily into criticism of the Trump administration as he toured the East Coast — and network and cable news shows — to promote his new memoir, Where We Keep The Light, last week.

    “I believe this administration in Washington is using [government] for pure evil in Minnesota right now,” Shapiro, who is widely believed to be setting up a presidential run, told Late Show host Stephen Colbert last week. “And it should not be hard to say that.”

    Known to be a careful messenger, Shapiro’s approach to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations in Minneapolis evolved over the last week, from his initial decision over the first year of Trump’s second presidency not to aggressively speak out against ICE’s enforcement tactics to a hard-line approach condemning the Trump administration’s mission following the killing of another U.S. citizen by federal agents that became national tipping point.

    When ICE agents killed Renee Good in early January, Shapiro issued a statement mourning her death, but made no broader conclusions about ICE and did not mention her by name.

    Now, he has honed a clear and authoritative message that the Trump administration’s strategies are eroding trust in law enforcement, violating constitutional rights and making communities less safe. If Trump moves his focus and forces to Pennsylvania, he says, state officials are prepared to push back.

    According to polling obtained by Puck News, Shapiro has landed on some of the most effective messaging on immigration in the country.

    Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) speak during a talk for his new memoir “Where We Keep the Light” on January 29, 2026 in Washington, D.C

    But immigrant rights groups in Pennsylvania say the governor took too long to speak up and has yet to back his rhetoric up with concrete actions in his home state by ending cooperation with ICE.

    “Because it is the topic of the day, he’s getting these pointed questions, and his answer to that is to point to what they’re doing wrong in Minnesota. Meanwhile, he’s over here telling us that he’s not going to stop collaborating with ICE,” said Tammy Murphy, advocacy manager at immigrant rights group Make the Road Pennsylvania. “It’s easy for him to point the finger to somebody else, but then what is he doing at home?”

    At a roundtable with journalists in Washington on Thursday, Shapiro said he didn’t view his new outspokenness against ICE’s operations in Minneapolis as a tone shift, but acknowledged that the situation had become more serious in recent days and he “reached a point where it was critically important” to comment on the situation in Minnesota and tell Pennsylvanians his views.

    “I think I’ve been in the same place on this to protect our immigrant communities and also make sure that Pennsylvania is safe,” Shapiro said.

    “Both [Good and Pretti’s deaths] told me the same story that you had people who were not following proper policing tactics. People who were in the field who seemingly, and it became more clear to me over the last week or two, did not have a clear mission and that the directive that they had clearly was not within the bounds of the constitution.”

    Shapiro has called for residents to continue peacefully protesting ICE activity. Speaking to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) in a book tour stop in Washington on Thursday evening, Shapiro noted that those protests had led to the votes against DHS funding Warnock was preparing to take that week.

    “That’s people power right now, and this is a moment where we need to raise our voices,” Shapiro said. (His event was then promptly, but briefly, interrupted by climate protesters)

    That same night Shapiro’s likely Republican opponent, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, told The Inquirer that Minnesotans need to “cooperate” with ICE and that Pennsylvania officials should, too.

    “It’s always good to cooperate with ICE, especially when they’re doing targeted actions,” Garrity said.

    Samuel Chen, a GOP strategist, said Shapiro’s harsh rhetoric would create a clear distinction between him and Garrity while “endearing him to the Democrats should he run in 2028.”

    Chen noted that even some Republicans have criticized Trump’s approach to Minnesota, which creates an opportunity for Shapiro to speak out.

    “With that being public opinion the governor has a lot of cover to come out even harder,” Chen said. “It’s a win, win, win for him.”

    Chalk on the sidewalk reading “Shapiro Stop ICE in PA,” during a protest outside the Free Library as Gov. Josh Shapiro promoted his new book “Where We Keep The Light” in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.

    Even as he makes the case against ICE’s recent actions, Shapiro is still being careful not to go too far. He frequently mentions that Pennsylvania is not a sanctuary state. In an interview with Fox News last week, he criticized Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s comments comparing ICE agents to Nazis as unacceptable rhetoric.

    “It is abhorrent and it is wrong, period, hard stop, end of sentence,” Shapiro said.

    What is most frustrating to immigrant rights groups is the Shapiro administration’s willingness to cooperate with ICE — even if on a limited basis — while other Democratic governors have taken strong actions against it. Gov. Maura Healy of Massachusetts, for example, banned ICE from state facilities.

    Meanwhile, Shapiro’s administration honors some ICE detainers in state prisons and provides ICE with access to state databases that include personal identifying information for immigrants.

    “You are still collaborating with the agency that is murdering our people, that you yourself have named as violating the constitution,” said Jasmine Rivera, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition.

    When Parady La, an Upper Darby resident and Cambodian immigrant died of a drug withdrawal in ICE custody last month, they note, Shapiro said nothing.

    “You know, Parady La’s death was also bad,” said Murphy, who is with Make The Road. “That happened in this state at the hands of federal agents. And he’s silent about that, but then he’s got something to say about Renee Good or Alex Pretti. He’s talking about those people, but not the people here.”

    The Shapiro administration says that outside agencies do not have “unfettered access” to state databases but may offer access to federal agents for “legitimate investigations that involve foreign nationals who have committed crimes.”

    Furthermore, they say ICE detainers are honored only when a detainee has been convicted of a crime and sentenced to state prison.

    In a letter to advocates last month, the administration vowed not to lease state property to ICE and reiterated that State Police are barred from conducting immigration enforcement and that federal agencies must obtain a warrant to access non-public space in state buildings.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks with Stephen Colbert last week.

    This cautious approach is part of a balancing act Shapiro must handle as he pursues reelection in a politically split state and weighs a potential run for higher office, said Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University.

    “He is spinning plates and juggling flaming torches, all while he’s playing the kazoo,” Dagnes added “That combination is really important to consider as we look at his shifting rhetoric, his carefulness that moved into a louder stance.”

    But advocates want Shapiro to take a firmer stance and say they won’t stop pushing until he does.

    “Politically, he wants to be seen as ‘both sides,’” Murphy said. “He doesn’t want to be seen challenging Trump or this deportation machine.”

  • Temple student arrested for anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church in case involving journalist Don Lemon

    Temple student arrested for anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church in case involving journalist Don Lemon

    A 21-year-old Temple University student was arrested Monday on charges that he conspired with nine other people, including journalist Don Lemon, to interfere with the First Amendment rights of worshipers during a Jan. 18 anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minn.

    Jerome Richardson, 21, a senior at Temple who is a native of St. Paul, turned himself in Monday morning to federal authorities in Philadelphia, according to a post on a GoFundMe page created to pay for his legal defense. A photo was posted showing Richardson entering the United States Custom House with several federal law enforcement officers apparently waiting for him at the entrance.

    The arrests of Richardson and Ian Davis Austin, an Army veteran from Montgomery County, were announced at 9:10 a.m. on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Austin was arrested Friday.

    A Montco Army veteran was indicted alongside journalist Don Lemon for anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church

    “If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you,” Bondi wrote. “We have made two more arrests in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota: Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson.”

    The arrest of Don Lemon was made public on Friday.

    The protesters went to Cities Church because a pastor there is also a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

    Lemon entered the church while livestreaming and said repeatedly: “I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.” He described the scene before him, and interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.

    A magistrate judge had rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge the veteran journalist. Lemon was charged, as were Richardson and seven others, by grand jury indictment last Thursday.

    The indictment described the protest as a “coordinated takeover-style attack” on the church that caused people to flee in fear. Protesters chanted “ICE out!” and “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” The indictment quotes Lemon, who in the moment described the scene as “traumatic and uncomfortable.”

    Before his arrest, Richardson shared a video online in which he said he feared for his safety and needed help to pay legal bills.

    Richardson said he assisted Lemon “by helping with logistics and connecting him with local contacts.”

    “Don was reporting on the situation,” Richardson said, adding that he was proud to help.

    “As a consequence of this support, I am now being targeted by Trump and the federal administration,” Richardson said, adding that he was proud of the other defendants in the case.

    “This is the price of being unapologetic about humanity and love of Christ,” he said.

    Richardson, who traced his activism to the murder of George Floyd in 2020, said he still hoped to complete his degree and graduate from Temple in May.

    In a statement, Temple University said it was aware of media reports about the arrest of a student.

    “We understand that the circumstances surrounding this matter are developing. Out of respect for the privacy of the student and the ongoing legal process, the University will not comment on the specifics,” the statement says.

    “As we’ve shared previously, we deeply value the First Amendment, including the rights of free speech, a free press, and the freedom to exercise religion,” the statement says. “We encourage and educate our students to engage thoughtfully and lawfully to advocate for their beliefs and values, raise awareness and contribute to constructive dialogue.”

    This article contains information from the Associated Press.

  • Philly DA Larry Krasner says ‘don’t be a wimp’ after Gov. Josh Shapiro decried his comparison of ICE agents to Nazis

    Philly DA Larry Krasner says ‘don’t be a wimp’ after Gov. Josh Shapiro decried his comparison of ICE agents to Nazis

    Philadelphia’s bombastic district attorney, Larry Krasner, is no stranger to opposition from within his own party, but the anger directed at him last week after he said ICE agents are “wannabe Nazis” was more pronounced than usual.

    After making the comparison, Krasner faced a wave of criticism, including from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, who called the comments “abhorrent” and said the rhetoric doesn’t help “bring down the temperature.”

    But the progressive district attorney said Monday that he would not back down, saying “these are people who have taken their moves from a Nazi playbook and a fascist playbook.”

    “Governor Shapiro is not meeting the moment,” Krasner said in an interview. “The moment requires that we call a subgroup of people within federal law enforcement — who are killing innocent people, physically assaulting innocent people, threatening and punishing the use of video — what they are. … Just say it. Don’t be a wimp.”

    Krasner pointed to a speech by Rabbi Joachim Prinz at the March on Washington in 1963: “Bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful, and the most tragic problem is silence.”

    In invoking that speech, Krasner said: “A reminder, Mr. Governor: Silence equals death.”

    DA Krasner condemns fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis, says officers who commit crimes in Philly will ‘be convicted’

    Krasner’s defense came after days of criticism from across the political spectrum, ranging from the White House press secretary to Democratic members of Congress. And it punctuated a yearslong history of conflict with Shapiro.

    The governor and Philadelphia’s top law enforcement official have feuded politically, sparred in court, and disagreed on policy. In 2019 — when lawyers from Krasner’s office decamped to work for then-Attorney General Shapiro — DA’s office staffers referred to Shapiro’s office as “Paraguay,” a reference to the country where Nazis took refuge after the war.

    It is not new for Krasner — whose Jewish father volunteered to serve in WWII — to compare President Donald Trump’s administration to elements of World War II-era fascism. Krasner has on several occasions referred to ICE as akin to the Nazi secret state police, and last year he called the president’s immigration agenda “Nazi stuff.”

    Last week, during a news conference about proposed restrictions on immigration enforcement in Philadelphia, the district attorney said he would “hunt down” and prosecute U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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. “If we have to hunt you down the way they hunted down Nazis for decades, we will find your identities.”

    DA Larry Krasner forms coalition of progressive prosecutors committed to charging federal agents who commit crimes
    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro during a talk for his new memoir “Where We Keep the Light” on Jan. 29 in Washington.

    Shapiro, who is Jewish and is a rumored presidential contender, was interviewed a dozen times last week on national media while promoting his new memoir and condemned ICE’s tactics during all of them.

    During an interview Thursday on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, Shapiro was asked about Krasner’s comparison of ICE agents to Nazis and called the comments “unacceptable.”

    “It is abhorrent and it is wrong, period, hard stop, end of sentence,” Shapiro said.

    Several other Democrats in political and media circles weighed in. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who has at times sided with Trump on immigration matters, appeared on Fox News and said he “strongly” condemned Krasner’s language.

    He said that “members of ICE are not Nazis.”

    “That’s gross,” Fetterman said. “Do not compare anyone to Nazis. Don’t use that kind of rhetoric. That can incite violence.”

    ‘Serious concern’: ICE agents who wear masks are driven by the threat of doxing, Pa. Sen. John Fetterman tells Fox News
    Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pennsylvania).

    U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat who represents parts of Western Pennsylvania, in an interview with the Washington Examiner contrasted his own approach with Krasner’s, saying: “I reserve throwing the phrase Nazis at actual Nazis. I don’t just throw that around.”

    And State Rep. Manuel Guzman Jr., a Democrat who represents a significant Latino population in Berks County, wrote on social media Friday: “I really, really want Krasner to chill tf out.”

    “I get it. We want to protect our immigrant community,” Guzman wrote, “but I question if constantly poking the bear is the right strategy. At the end of the day it’s my community that is under siege.”

    Republicans also swiftly castigated Krasner.

    On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a video clip of Krasner’s comments on social media, writing: “Will the media ask Dems to condemn?”

    And U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican who represents parts of Northeast Pennsylvania, appeared on Newsmax and called Krasner a “psychopath with a badge.”

    Meuser — who considered challenging Shapiro for governor with Trump’s backing but ultimately decided not to run — also on social media decried “the Left’s silence and, in many cases, encouragement of this rhetoric.”

    Krasner doubled down. In an interview on CNN on Thursday, he criticized Fetterman as “not a real Democrat” and also said, “There are some people who are all in on the fascist takeover of this country who do not like the comparison to Nazi Germany.”

    He said that when he promised to “hunt down” federal agents who kill someone in his jurisdiction, he was attempting to make a point that there is no statute of limitations on homicide.

    The interviewer, Kaitlan Collins, asked Krasner whether he could have made that point without comparing agents to Nazis.

    “Why would I do that?” Krasner responded. “They’re taking almost everything they do out of the Nazi playbook.”

  • Immigrants are a ‘main driver’ of the Philadelphia economy, local leaders say

    Immigrants are a ‘main driver’ of the Philadelphia economy, local leaders say

    Foreign nationals are facing increasing challenges to working and studying in the U.S., but their contributions to the Philadelphia economy are critical, local business leaders say, painting a grim picture of Philadelphia’s future with fewer of them.

    In Philadelphia, “immigrants are not a side factor when it comes to our economy. They are a main driver,” Alain Joinville, from the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said at a panel discussion, hosted last week by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, in partnership with immigration-reform organization FWD.us.

    The foreign-born population has supported Philadelphia’s workforce growth in recent years. Between 2010 and 2022, the immigrant workforce grew by 50% from 105,600 to 158,300, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2022, the foreign-born population represented 15.7% of the total Philadelphia population.

    But over the past year, President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed to carry out the largest deportation effort in the country’s history, and put forward a plan to charge employers $100,000 to secure H-1B visas for their employees. ICE agents have detained immigrants across the region.

    Anti-ICE activists demonstrate outside U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s Philadelphia office on Jan. 27, 2026, calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement policies.

    “If we have policies that are disrupting families, detaining people, sending people back, that’s a huge part of our economy that impacts manufacturing, transportation of all the goods and services that we manufacture,” said Elizabeth Jones, of immigrant-support nonprofit the Welcoming Center. “The ripple effect is scary in terms of how it’s going to impact the economy.”

    Canadians are staying away from Philly amid Trump trade war

    Potential to lose the research edge

    While the U.S is a global leader in research universities, it could be losing that grip, said Amy Gadsden, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Initiatives. Having the best research universities in the world requires the best talent — namely international students that also become faculty, she noted.

    Penn has roughly 9,000 international students and an additional 2,000 faculty, postdoc students, and others who “drive a lot of economic activity, both for Penn and for the city of Philadelphia — for the country, for that matter,” she said.

    Colleges are bracing for a drop in international enrollment as students face confusion and fear. ‘I feel like I’m trapped.’

    International student enrollments are down across the country, and students are being cautious about where they apply.

    “There is not a guidance counselor around the world who is advising their student not to hedge their application to the United States with an application to another country,” she said.

    A view over Walnut Street on the University of Pennsylvania campus, with the Philadelphia skyline at left rear.

    Penn, Philadelphia’s largest employer, depends on international students, said Gadsden. “When we think about what is going on with visa policy in the United States, what we see is a decrease in international students, a decrease in international faculty, a decrease in research output, that will ultimately lead to a decrease in our position as a leading research university in the world,” she said.

    The Philadelphia region is losing international student graduates to jobs elsewhere

    A challenge for employers

    Jennifer Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the challenge employers can face under the new fee for H-1B visas.

    “Immigrants and the foreign-born population in general is one that is critical for the economic health of the city of Philadelphia and the region,” she said.

    The Economy League of Greater Philadelphia held a panel discussion in collaboration with FWD.us. From left are Ben Fileccia, Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association; Maria Praeli, FWD.us; Jennifer Rodriguez, Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Alain Joinville, Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs; Elizabeth Jones, the Welcoming Center; Tracy Brala, University City Science Center; Jeff Hornstein, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia; Amy Gadsden, University of Pennsylvania.

    Rodriguez described the additional $100,000, which is on top of other expected visa processing costs, as exorbitant. While some large businesses might have resources to handle it, she said, middle-market companies will be more challenged.

    “Philadelphia is desperate to get more of those businesses to establish here, and now you’re making it that much harder,” said Rodriguez. “We are really curtailing the ability of these businesses to innovate, to hire, to really be the contributors to the economy that we want them to be.”

    A third of self-employed entrepreneurs in Philly are immigrants, and other insights from new Pew reports

    Immigrants in Philadelphia are of prime working age, noted Joinville, from the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

    “Without immigrants, we have a smaller workforce to drive and support our businesses locally,” he said, adding that immigrants start small businesses at a high rate in Philadelphia.

    “As a child of immigrants, focusing on the economy can be a little tricky for me, because we’re not just data or money or economy,” said Joinville. “Yes, immigrants have an economic impact, but they are cultural leaders, civic leaders, and, yeah, just good people.”

  • A Montco Army veteran was indicted alongside journalist Don Lemon for anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church

    A Montco Army veteran was indicted alongside journalist Don Lemon for anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church

    A decorated U.S. Army veteran from Montgomery County was arrested Friday for participating in a protest at a St. Paul, Minn., church, just two days after a video of him speaking out against the Trump administration went viral.

    Ian Austin, 35, of Bryn Athyn, is one of nine people facing felony charges for their involvement in a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul. Former CNN host Don Lemon, who was covering the protest, is also a defendant. Lemon’s arrest, and that of another journalist who attended the protest, has brought criticism from media and civil rights advocates.

    The Department of Justice indicted Austin for conspiring to interrupt a church service and “injure, intimidate, and interfere with exercise of right of religious freedom” at a place of worship, federal court documents state.

    But Austin’s parents in Bryn Athyn say their son’s actions are in keeping with his sense of duty to his country, and his determination to help others however he can.

    “Those are things he cares about more than political party,” his mother, Paige Austin, said. “It’s more about what does it mean to be human, and to treat people justly and kindly, regardless of where you live.”

    Journalist Don Lemon is charged with federal civil rights crimes in anti-ICE church protest

    In a video clip dated Jan. 20 and posted online days before his arrest, Austin said that he believed as an Army veteran it was his duty to travel to Minnesota.

    “We took an oath to the Constitution, and it’s just being shredded right now,” Austin said in the video, which racked up hundreds of thousands of likes across multiple social media platforms.

    “This has all of the signs from every fascist movement in history that we’re going to lose the opportunity to resist,” he said. “So that’s why I’m here.”

    The protesters said they targeted the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, leads the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) St. Paul field office. The church’s website lists David Easterwood as a pastor, and news outlets have reported that his personal information appears to match that of the David Easterwood identified in court filings as the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office.

    In the video, Austin said he’d previously been detained for protesting outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building before being released without charges. It was during that detainment, he said, that a Department of Homeland Security officer questioned him about why someone “from Philadelphia” would be in Minneapolis.

    “And I’m like, ‘Well, because the nation that I was willing to die for is being systematically oppressed with men in military uniforms, a private army told by the president that they have no other laws to follow than his, and they’re systematically attacking and even killing our neighbors — in the United States of America,” Austin said.

    This undated photo shows Ian Austin and other U.S. Army soldiers.

    Valorous service

    Austin grew up in Huntingdon Valley, a couple miles outside of Philly in Montgomery County. His parents, Kenneth and Paige Austin, said he went to Academy of the New Church high school, where he excelled at baseball and wrestling, earning a spot in the J. Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camp in Minnesota.

    “It’s brutally hard,” Kenneth Austin said in an interview with The Inquirer. “It’s like boot camp. He did very well. I think that planted a seed for the military.”

    Austin graduated from high school in 2008, celebrated the Phillies’ World Series win with family and friends, and weeks later, shipped out to Army basic training.

    His parents confirmed that as a member of the U.S. Army’s elite 1st Ranger Battalion, Austin served six combat deployments in Afghanistan. In 2013, he was awarded a Joint Commendation Medal with Valor device, according to a news report.

    The valor device is given to soldiers who displayed “an act or acts of heroism by an individual above what is normally expected while engaged in direct combat with an enemy of the United States, or an opposing foreign or armed force, with exposure to enemy hostilities and personal risk,” according to a military website.

    This detail shot of an undated family photo shows Ian Austin while serving in the U.S. Army 1st Ranger Battalion.

    After his Army contract ended in 2014, Austin returned home, his parents said. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he threw himself into his recovery process with the same passion he put into his training, Kenneth Austin said. He had his share of setbacks; in 2021, Austin pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and fighting after refusing to leave a local bar, his parents noted.

    But as Austin took college classes at La Salle University and elsewhere, he became increasingly interested in social justice and helping others.

    During the 2020 George Floyd protests in Philly, Austin packed his backpack with medical supplies and water, Paige Austin said. “He would go down there and sort of join the protest, but he was there also to help, because part of the Ranger training was emergency medical training.”

    Kenneth Austin recounted that his son even carried a backpack full of water, snacks, and first aid supplies during the parade after the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2025 Super Bowl victory, earning him the nickname “headquarters” from some of those out celebrating.

    “It was a little much for me,” his father said. “But it really struck me, like, he’s … here to have fun, but he’s also looking out for everyone, and becoming buddies with everyone, and making sure everyone’s OK.”

    A protest in a church

    A few weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, Austin told his parents he was going to Minnesota. Three hours later, his truck was packed, and after a 17-hour drive, he was out protesting.

    Austin is being held in the Sherburne County Jail in Minnesota, county records show. His attorney, Sarah Gad, said that she took on his case pro bono after seeing agents arrest him Friday. Gad said that based on what she’s seen in similar cases, she expects him to be released on his own recognizance as early as Monday.

    Video of the protest shows protesters in the church chanting “Renee Good,” “Don’t shoot,” and “ICE out,” while a pastor shouted “shame on you” into a microphone. As the protest continued, many congregants can be seen leaving the church, while others stayed put or filmed the takeover. A few church attendees struck up conversations with protesters.

    “I understand that what has happened is wrong, and I agree with that,” one congregant said to the person filming. “But this can’t happen. This is the house of the Lord.”

    The federal indictment states that between 20 and 40 “agitators” occupied the main aisle and front of the church and yelled at the pastor and congregants. The indictment alleges that some protesters intimidated church members and prevented them from moving about freely in the church.

    Austin, the indictment states, stood with other protesters, “approached the pastor and congregants in a menacing manner, and near the end of the operation, loudly berated the pastor with questions about Christian nationalism and Christians wanting their faith to be the law of the land.”

    News reports have noted that Cities Church has ties to prominent Christian nationalists and powerful figures in the MAGA movement. Slate reported that its founder, Joe Rigney, is now a pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. That church is run by Doug Wilson, who wants America to become a theocracy, according to a New York Times interview. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends an affiliated church.

    Austin’s attorney said this is a unique case, but it doesn’t surprise her that the Department of Justice would want to make an example of anti-ICE protesters who were allegedly disrupting a place of worship.

    “I think that this is being taken very seriously by the United States attorney,” Gad said, though she added, “federal cases often look much more alarming at the front end than they turn out to be.”

  • Journalist Don Lemon is charged with federal civil rights crimes in anti-ICE church protest

    Journalist Don Lemon is charged with federal civil rights crimes in anti-ICE church protest

    LOS ANGELES — Journalist Don Lemon was released from custody Friday after he was arrested and hit with federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.

    Lemon was arrested Thursday while across the country in Los Angeles, while another independent journalist and two protest participants were arrested in Minnesota. He struck a confident, defiant tone while speaking to reporters after a court appearance in California.

    “I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” Lemon said. “In fact there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”

    3 people involved in a Minnesota church protest are arrested

    The arrests brought sharp criticism from news media advocates and civil rights activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said the Trump administration is taking a “sledgehammer” to “the knees of the First Amendment.”

    The four were charged with conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers during the Jan. 18 protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.

    In federal court in Los Angeles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Robbins argued for a $100,000 bond, telling a judge that Lemon “knowingly joined a mob that stormed into a church.” He was released, however, without having to post money and was granted permission to travel to France in June while the case is pending.

    Defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski said Lemon plans to plead not guilty and fight the charges.

    Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023 following a bumpy run as a morning host, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and he was there as a solo journalist chronicling protesters.

    “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done,” his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement. “The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable.”

    Attorney General Pam Bondi promoted the arrests on social media.

    “Make no mistake. Under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” Bondi said in a video posted online. “And if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”

    ‘Keep trying’

    Since he left CNN, Lemon has joined the legion of journalists who have gone into business for himself, posting regularly on YouTube. He hasn’t hidden his disdain for President Donald Trump. Yet during his online show from the church, he said repeatedly: “I’m not here as an activist. I’m here as a journalist.” He described the scene before him, and interviewed churchgoers and demonstrators.

    A magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors’ initial bid to charge the veteran journalist. Shortly after, he predicted on his show that the administration would try again.

    “And guess what,” he said. “Here I am. Keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist. That’s not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want. Just do it. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

    Georgia Fort livestreamed the moments before her arrest, telling viewers that agents were at her door and her First Amendment right as a journalist was being diminished.

    A judge released Fort, Trahern Crews, and Jamael Lundy on bond, rejecting the Justice Department’s attempt to keep them in custody. Not guilty pleas were entered. Fort’s supporters in the courtroom clapped and whooped.

    “It’s a sinister turn of events in this country,” Fort’s attorney, Kevin Riach, said in court.

    Discouraging scrutiny

    Jane Kirtley, a media law and ethics expert at the University of Minnesota, said the federal laws cited by the government were not intended to apply to reporters gathering news.

    The charges against Lemon and Fort, she said, are “pure intimidation and government overreach.”

    Some experts and activists said the charges were not only an attack on press freedoms but also a strike against Black Americans who count on Black journalists to bear witness to injustice and oppression.

    The National Association of Black Journalists said it was “outraged and deeply alarmed” by Lemon’s arrest. The group called it an effort to “criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement.”

    Crews is a leader of Black Lives Matter Minnesota who has led many protests and actions for racial justice, particularly following George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in 2020.

    After Trump administration officials said earlier this month that arrests would be coming in the church protest, Crews told the Associated Press there’s a “tradition” of Black activists and leaders being targeted or subjected to violence.

    “Just as being a Black person, you always have to have that in mind,” Crews said.

    Protesters charged previously

    A prominent civil rights attorney and two other people involved in the protest were arrested last week. Prosecutors have accused them of civil rights violations for disrupting the Cities Church service.

    The Justice Department launched an investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

    Lundy, a candidate for state Senate, works for the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and is married to a St. Paul City Council member. Lemon briefly interviewed him as they gathered with protesters preparing to drive to the church on Jan. 18.

    “I feel like it’s important that if you’re going to be representing people in office that you are out here with the people,” Lundy told Lemon, adding he believed in “direct action, certainly within the lines of the law.”

    Church leaders praise arrests in protest

    Cities Church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention and lists one of its pastors as David Easterwood, who leads ICE’s St. Paul field office.

    “We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him known,” lead pastor Jonathan Parnell said.

  • As Josh Shapiro calls for ICE to leave Minneapolis, his GOP challenger Stacy Garrity wants Minnesotans — and Pennsylvanians — to cooperate with agents

    As Josh Shapiro calls for ICE to leave Minneapolis, his GOP challenger Stacy Garrity wants Minnesotans — and Pennsylvanians — to cooperate with agents

    As Gov. Josh Shapiro makes the case on national television for ICE to leave Minneapolis, his Republican challenger Stacy Garrity has a different view: Minnesotans should cooperate.

    Garrity, the state treasurer and GOP-endorsed candidate, said “it’s best to cooperate” with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in an interview Thursday night at the National Constitution Center following an appearance on a conservative podcast.

    The retired U.S. Army colonel also praised Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar assigned to take over the Minneapolis operation, as “spot on” in his recent remarks calling for a de-escalation of the conflict between residents and federal officials, and that residents should comply.

    “He said it best: Cooperate and take down the rhetoric,” Garrity said, noting her time as U.S. Army military police officer gives her a “different perspective.”

    The race between Josh Shapiro and Stacy Garrity for Pa. governor has officially begun. Here’s what you need to know.

    Garrity’s comments came days after she received an endorsement from Trump in the Pennsylvania governor’s race. The president on Tuesday evening called Garrity a “true America First Patriot, who has been with me from the beginning.”

    Shapiro, meanwhile, has become more outspoken about ICE’s operations in Minnesota over the last few days while on a national media blitz for his new memoir released this week, Where We Keep the Light. The former Pennsylvania attorney general, known as a careful and deliberate communicator, has now repeatedly called for ICE and the Border Patrol to leave Minneapolis, arguing that the operations are “outside the bounds of law” and “must be terminated.”

    Pennsylvania does not have a sanctuary policy restricting cooperation with ICE by state law enforcement, but several jurisdictions in the state do have such policies, including Philadelphia.

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

    Garrity was in Philadelphia on Thursday for a live taping of the conservative podcast Ruthless. The event was hosted by Americans for Prosperity, a national libertarian advocacy organization. She largely talked about what led her to politics in 2020 after a long career in the military and private sector, as well as her work as the state’s treasurer.

    When asked whether she was concerned by the shooting of Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Minnesota, Garrity said she had not seen the videos of Border Patrol agents fatally shooting Pretti and that she “always waits for the investigation” before forming an opinion. Pretti’s death marked the second killing of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, leading to mass protests and public outrage.

    “The investigation will come out, and then any corrective action that needs to be taken, or we’ll see what the results are,” she said. “I’m going to withhold any judgment until the investigation.”

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

    In the case of Pretti’s death, Trump said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation, and he is “going to be watching over it.” Minnesota officials have called for an independent investigation and have protested as federal officials have blocked local authorities from investigating.

    Earlier this week, Shapiro said his staff has been preparing for the chance that Trump sends a surge of ICE agents to a Pennsylvania city like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.

    If Trump does send more ICE agents to Pennsylvania, Garrity said Pennsylvania officials should cooperate here, too.

    “It’s always good to cooperate with ICE, especially when they’re doing targeted actions,” Garrity added.

  • A veto-proof majority of Philadelphia City Council members have signed onto the ‘ICE Out’ proposal

    A veto-proof majority of Philadelphia City Council members have signed onto the ‘ICE Out’ proposal

    All but two of Philadelphia’s 17 City Council members have sponsored a package of legislation aimed at limiting ICE operations in the city, a level of support that could ensure the measures become law even if they are opposed by the mayor.

    The 15 cosponsors, confirmed Thursday by a spokesperson for Councilmember Kendra Brooks, indicate a potentially veto-proof majority of lawmakers back the sweeping “ICE Out” effort.

    Brooks and Councilmember Rue Landau, the proposal’s authors, on Thursday formally introduced the seven bills in the package, which includes measures that would codify Philly’s “sanctuary city” status, ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from operating on city-owned property, and prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of immigration status.

    Landau said that “reaching a majority sends a clear message.”

    “Philadelphia stands with our immigrant communities,” she said in a statement. “At a moment when the federal government is using fear and violence as governing strategies, this level of support shows that Council will do everything we can to protect our immigrant neighbors.”

    Advocates and protesters call for ICE to get out of Philadelphia, in Center City, January 27, 2026.

    The 15 lawmakers on board with Brooks and Landau’s proposal have each cosponsored all seven bills, Brooks’ spokesperson Eric Rosso said. Only Councilmembers Mike Driscoll, a Democrat, and Brian O’Neill, Council’s lone Republican, declined to cosponsor the legislation, he said.

    Driscoll, who represents lower Northeast Philadelphia, said in a statement that the shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis this month “caused real pain and fear” and “deserve serious attention.”

    But he indicated that he had concerns about whether the “ICE Out” legislation would hold up in court. Similar legislation, including a California ban on law enforcement officers wearing masks, has faced legal challenges.

    “Locally, we should aim for immigration policies that are focused, proactive and aimed at practical, long-term solutions that ultimately hold up in court,” he said.

    Driscoll said he is open to amended versions of the legislation.

    O’Neill, whose district covers much of Northeast Philadelphia, could not immediately be reached for comment.

    The developments Thursday prompted Mayor Cherelle L. Parker to make one of her first public comments about President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, saying in a statement that her administration “understand[s] the public’s fear of the unknown as it relates to federal policy associated with immigration.”

    “We have a comprehensive approach to public safety, and we will always be prepared for any emergency, as we have consistently demonstrated and will continue to demonstrate,” Parker said. “I have a great deal of faith in our public safety leaders — our subject matter experts — who I asked to be a part of this team and we’re going to do our best to work in an intergovernmental fashion, along with City Council, to keep every Philadelphian safe.”

    Parker said she and her team are reviewing the legislation.

    Advocates and protestors call for ICE to get out of Philadelphia, in Center City, January 27, 2026.

    The mayor has largely avoided confrontation with Trump’s administration over immigration policy, a strategy some have speculated has helped keep Philadelphia from the National Guard deployments or surges of ICE agents seen in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.

    Why hasn’t Trump sent troops to Philly, the city where ‘bad things happen’? Everyone has a theory.

    But the popularity of the “ICE Out” package among Council members may force her to wade into the issue. Administration officials will testify when the bills are called up for committee hearings. If they are approved, Parker will have the choice of signing the bills into law, vetoing them, or letting them become law without her signature.

    Council bills require nine votes for passage, and 12 votes are needed to override mayoral vetoes. With 15 Council members already signaling their approval for the bills, chances appear strong that the city’s legislative branch has the numbers to override any opposition.

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

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has avoided confrontation with the White House on immigration issues.

    In a Council speech, Brooks addressed the debate over whether the legislation would draw Trump’s ire.

    “Staying silent is not an option when people are being publicly executed in the streets and the federal government is covering up their murders,” Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, said. “I want to be clear: ICE is already here. We don’t want a Minneapolis situation, but I reject the claim of those who are pretending we don’t already have a problem.”

    Council President Kenyatta Johnson, a centrist Democrat and an ally of Parker, shared a similar view.

    “From my perspective, the Trump administration has already been looking at the city,” Johnson told reporters. “Overall, the majority of members of City Council support the legislation, and so we see this legislation being successfully voted out of committee.”

    ICE agents have been arresting suspected undocumented immigrants in the city before and during Trump’s tenure, and his administration has canceled grants for the city and educational and medical institutions in Philadelphia. But the city has not seen a mass deployment of ICE agents or federalized troops.

    Councilmember Anthony Phillips, also a centrist and Parker ally, represents the 9th District, from which the mayor hails.

    “What the ’ICE Out’ legislation ultimately says to Donald Trump,” Phillips said, “is that no matter what you try to do to undermine the health and safety and well-being of Philadelphia citizens, we will stand up to you.”

    Johnson suggested potential legal issues could be ironed out through amendments if needed.

    “The reality is this: This is a moral issue, right?” he said. “And if there are any legality issues that has to be addressed as a body, we’ll work with our members to address it.”

    Next, Johnson will refer the legislation to committee, where members will hold one or more hearings featuring testimony from administration officials, experts, stakeholders, and the public. Council members can also amend the bills in committee.

    Kendra Brooks shown here during a press conference at City Hall to announce a package of bills aimed at pushing back against ICE enforcement in Philadelphia, January 27, 2026.

    Supporters of the legislation packed Council chambers Thursday morning, and many spoke during public comment, ranging from leaders of advocacy organizations to a former immigration judge to immigrants who tearfully pleaded for Council to pass the package swiftly.

    Several Spanish-speaking residents spoke through interpreters; other residents testified on behalf of friends or family members who are undocumented and were fearful to come to City Hall themselves. A school nurse told Council members that her students have asked her what tear gas feels like.

    “The traumatic effects of these [ICE] raids on our children and our families and our communities will last for years and generations to come,” said Jeannine Cicco Barker, a South Philadelphia psychologist who said she is the daughter of immigrants. “These times call for bold, brave new measures to protect our community, and you have a chance to do some of that here. Philly urgently needs these protections.”

    Ethan Tan, who said he is an immigrant and a father of two, said he is fearful for his family and community.

    “To this administration, fear is the point. Alienation is the point. Isolation is the point,” he said. “The ‘ICE Out’ package says to me and immigrants that we may be afraid, but we can show solidarity and resolve anyway.”