Philly labor and progressive organizations prepare for potential ICE surge

Philadelphia’s ICE Out legislation seeks to impose local regulations on federal immigration officials ahead of possible massive deployment.

Following last month’s deadly shootings at the hands of federal immigration agents in Minnesota, a coalition of labor unions, progressive and immigrant rights organizations, and faith groups are coalescing in Philadelphia with the anticipation of potential raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies. 

More than 40 organizations and unions such as Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT), and Unite Here Local 274 have all signed onto support legislation that aims to protect vulnerable communities from ICE officers. 

“This particular package of legislation does everything within the city’s power to restrict ICE here in Philadelphia,” Philadelphia City Councilmember Kendra Brooks said in an interview. “We’re calling it ‘ICE Out’ and it gets to three specific points: ICE out of the shadows, ICE out of city data and ICE out of city spaces.”

Even though Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has been quiet on immigration issues under President Donald Trump’s second term and the ICE Out legislation, a veto-proof majority of city council members have signed onto the legislation.

The bills seek to unmask ICE agents and other federal offices and prohibit them from concealing their identity and using unmarked vehicles. It prohibits city officials and other agencies from working with ICE through the 287(g) program. 

The legislation also bars ICE agents from using city-owned properties and parking garages for staging and organizing immigration raids and prevents agents from entering city-owned spaces, such as libraries, schools, shelters or recreational centers, without a warrant. 

“We saw cities around the country passing similar laws, including right here in Pennsylvania, and this is one of the most comprehensive attempts to kick ICE out of cities in general,” Brooks said. “We’re using every legal avenue available to us to move this forward.”

Brooks was the first member of the Working Families Party (WFP), a political third party that supports progressive candidates, elected to Philadelphia City Council in 2019, and she became minority leader of the chamber after WFP ousted two of the three Republicans that used to sit on council. 

Since the summer, Brooks has been holding training sessions in neighborhoods around Philadelphia with over 1,000 residents attending. These trainings are designed to help residents organize and mobilize for a possible ICE surge as seen in Los Angeles last summer or in Minnesota last month.

“ I think this right here is more preventative measures that have in place any event that ICE tactics escalate. What we have seen is that in other places they didn’t have a plan around it. This is a solid plan on what to do, what our city services are to do, what workers are to do,” Brooks said.

 ”Preparedness is the key, and this ICE out package as well as our ICE trainings that we have been doing around the city is our way of preparing folks if or when escalation happens with ICE.”

Brooks estimates that it could take close to six weeks to get this ICE Out package through city council, but the PFT, which represents 14,000 public school teachers and support staff in the city, is calling for a swift passage of the ICE Out legislation. 

“Philadelphia educators are watching in horror as federal agencies invade once-peaceful communities in Minnesota and across the country, making daily life including schooling untenable,” PFT President Arthur Steinberg said in a statement. 

He added,”The ICE OUT bills will help ensure that all available legal tools and resources are deployed to protect our neighbors from violent invasion by the federal government in the city where American democracy was born.”