District Attorney Larry Krasner, Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, Chief Public Defender Keisha Hudson and others on Wednesday called for meetings with judicial leaders amid a rising number of federal immigration arrests outside Philadelphia’s criminal courthouse.
Bilal and Krasner also stood by earlier remarks – that went viral and drew scorn from allies of President Donald Trump – to arrest and charge any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who violates the law, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Courthouse ICE apprehensions erode trust in the justice system, making undocumented immigrants fearful of reporting crimes, testifying in front of a judge or showing up for hearings, Krasner and Hudson told reporters.
“One of the things that we have seen, for example, in the context of domestic violence, is that more and more victims are not showing up for court,” Krasner said. “We're seeing the same with witnesses.”
Since January 2025, when Trump’s second term began, there have been at least 130 such ICE arrests, according to Hudson. In recent months, nearly all have occurred in and around the Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice (CJC) on Filbert Street in Center City, she said.
“Many people were deported before we even knew they were detained, and many of them had absolutely no representation,” Hudson added. “Months later, we are still trying to figure out where they are actually being detained and where they were deported to.”
Krasner and Hudson want to hold conversations with the First Judicial District, Sheriff’s Office, Philadelphia Police Department, Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration, City Council and other stakeholders about strategies to deter ICE activity surrounding the courts.
Hudson said the city’s criminal justice system could adopt approaches currently being used in other jurisdictions, such as notifying individuals of their rights when dealing with federal agents and training courthouse staff.
All employees could be taught how to distinguish between a judicial warrant and an ICE administration notice, she continued. Civil immigration enforcement, Hudson suggested, could be restricted in certain “sensitive court spaces.”
"The First Judicial District is always willing to discuss matters of mutual concern with our justice partners, but managing security in court buildings – which includes managing ICE’s presence – is the sole responsibility of the Sheriff," a court spokesperson told Metro in a statement. "These decisions are the Sheriff’s to make."
Activists have asked Bilal to bar ICE from entering the CJC; however, it’s not clear whether such a policy would be legal or feasible, given that hearings are generally open to the public.
The Sheriff’s Office, under a policy issued in January 2025, prohibits immigration arrests inside or on the grounds of the courthouse, and deputies are prohibited from sharing information with ICE.
Many who spoke at Wednesday’s news conference, organized by the DA’s Office at Salt and Light Church in Kingsessing, also attended a Jan. 8 event held in response to the ICE killing of Good.
During that press briefing, Bilal and Krasner threatened to apprehend federal agents accused of committing crimes, with the sheriff referring to ICE as “made-up, fake, wannabe law enforcement.”
“You don’t want this smoke,” she added, in an apparent warning against officer misconduct in Philadelphia.
The comment resulted in an onslaught of calls and emails directed to the PPD – so much so that Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel issued a statement effectively distancing his department from the Sheriff’s Office.
ICE, in a Jan. 10 post to the social media platform X, said Bilal “should resign before she embarrasses herself any further.”
“I stand 10 toes down on my statement,” Bilal said Wednesday. “And I ain't scared.”
Krasner addressed Vice President JD Vance, who has been quoted as saying that the ICE agent who killed Good has “absolute immunity.” The DA called that an “absolute lie” and argued that Vance’s statement was meant to egg on newly-hired agents eager to deploy violence on immigrants and others in America’s largest cities.
Krasner told the vice president to look up the Nuremberg trials, which resulted in death sentences for some surviving Nazi leaders in the aftermath of the Second World War.
“Sometimes haters – and you are one – face consequences, real consequences, whether under international law or in the United States,” he continued. “All of you who imagine a world where there's no accountability, try me and try our sheriff.”
