Immigrant groups demand Parker enforce ‘ICE Out’ laws

Immigrant rights advocates are calling on Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration to enforce the city’s recently enacted “ICE Out” laws.

Representatives from New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, Make the Road Pennsylvania, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and other organizations also demanded a meeting with City Hall in the coming days to discuss the roll-out and enforcement of the new policies.

City Council passed the ICE Out legislative package in April, and the bills went into effect July 7. However, the Parker administration has offered no guidance on implementation, and municipal employees say they have not received training on the changes, according to the advocates.

“We have been doing community trainings, and people don’t know these bills are in effect,” said Vivian Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United. “They don’t know what protections they have. And when they ask us, we can’t tell them what the city’s doing or not doing.”

A coalition of immigrant rights groups said they reached out to the Mayor’s Office in June but were told that such a conversation about the ICE Out laws would be “premature.” Organizers have been critical of Parker’s passive approach in the face of the White House’s aggressive rhetoric and actions in carrying out President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportation operation.

“By not implementing these laws fully, Mayor Parker’s very clearly turning her back on immigrant communities at this time,” Erika Guadalupe Núñez, executive director of Juntos, said.

The Parker administration did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Among other provisions, the ICE Out laws:

• Bar federal immigration officers from entering municipal buildings, libraries, recreation centers, schools and other facilities, unless they have a signed judicial warrant.
• Generally prohibit city employees from asking about a resident’s immigration status or requiring them to show a U.S. passport or state driver’s license, instead of a City ID, which can be issued to undocumented immigrants.
• Formally forbid the city from entering into a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, does not allow municipal contracts to be awarded to entities that do business with immigration authorities and bans police officers and other city workers from complying with immigration detainers and administrative warrants.
• Stipulate that no city property, including parking lots, be used as a staging area, processing location or operations base for federal immigration agents.
• Prevent the sharing of personal data maintained by the city for the purpose of immigration enforcement.
• Add citizenship and immigration status to a law banning employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination.

One of the bills makes it a criminal offense for law enforcement officers to wear masks, conceal their badges, don plainclothes or use an unmarked car, with limited exceptions. In response to a lawsuit from the Trump administration, a federal judge earlier this month blocked that portion of the legislation from becoming law.

Immigrant advocates attempted to hand-deliver a letter outlining their demands to the Parker administration on Tuesday morning. Security stopped them in the lobby of the city’s 1515 Arch Street building, and David Torres, an official within Parker’s Law Department, eventually came down to accept the print-out.

The letter, co-signed by more than 60 organizations, calls for an initial meeting to occur by Friday, July 31, with whoever is leading the implementation of the ICE Out policies.

No later than Aug. 7, the city should begin posting the required signage, holding employee trainings and establish a process for members of the public to report violations of the ordinances, the coalition’s letter states.

The groups say the Parker administration should set benchmarks for full compliance with the laws and report progress in a transparent manner.

MORE: What to do if someone you know in Philadelphia is detained by ICE