Montgomery County joins local governments restricting ICE from public properties

County governments across Pennsylvania are stepping up to restrict ICE operations as federal officials refuse to reign in the agency. 

Earlier this month, Montgomery County became the one of latest local or county governments to crack down against Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) amid a nationwide pushback against the immigration agency’s heavy handed tactics when it comes immigration enforcement. 

“ Montgomery County took a stand to ensure that we are not gonna participate in what ICE is doing,” Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija said in an interview with The Keystone. “We passed a resolution that forbid contracts with ICE and forbid ICE from utilizing any of our county properties to engage in their unlawful conduct.” 

Montgomery County is Pennsylvania’s third largest county with a population over 860,000 residents. It is home to roughly 100,000 immigrants, and the resolution bars the county from entering a 287(g) agreement, which would allow local, state or county law enforcement agencies to carry out immigration actions. It also  stops county officials from assisting in immigration operations unless required by a warrant or subpoena. 

The resolution further prohibits ICE from using county-owned properties, garages or vacant lots as staging grounds for raids, and it keeps ICE agents from making warrantless arrests outside of the county courthouse. 

“We saw what happened in Minnesota and we also see that ICE is purchasing two warehouses in Pennsylvania, about $100 million each. We know that this means that ICE is gonna show up in full force here in Pennsylvania,” Makhija said.

Since immigration officials killed two Minnesota residents in January, counties across the commonwealth have taken some sort of action limiting or reevaluating their cooperation with ICE. 

Allegheny, Bucks, Lehigh, and Montgomery counties have ended their 287(g) agreements with ICE or they have barred the agency from using county properties and buildings to conduct immigration operations. 

“Local government is a place where we have a chance to show leadership and be bold and take the actions that people are looking for now, and the reason that happens is because when it comes to local government, we are the closest to the ground,” Makhija said. 

He added, “We see the impact on our communities when there’s an ICE raid and kids are now afraid to go to school because they don’t want to be subjected  to potential violence. I see that firsthand.”