District Attorney Larry Krasner, who has said his office will prosecute ICE agents who commit crimes, has called for protections at the Criminal Justice Center. A recent statement from the First Judicial District, which oversees Philadelphia’s courts, said that Bilal has “sole responsibility” for managing ICE’s presence in the courthouse.
Aniqa Raihan, a volunteer with No ICE Philly, said the meeting with Bilal was a good first step, but advocates want to see “meaningful action, serious change, that protects our neighbors and everyone who goes to the courthouse.”
“Our message to Sheriff Bilal today is to know this,” she said. “We will not stop. We will continue to show up day after day, week after week, month after month, to demand that you take the steps that are within your power to protect our people.”
Immigrant rights advocates demanded Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal limit ICE arrests outside of the Criminal Justice Center at a rally on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in front of the sheriff’s office. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
Bilal said No ICE Philly organizers have not yet given her any evidence of sheriff’s deputies collaborating with ICE officers. She said she has agreed to a follow-up meeting if they provide her with evidence.
“Most of their demands, they were asking us to do something illegal, which we’re not going to break the law,” she said. “We operate off the law, and that’s it.”
Bilal said there has been “one incident” of an immigration enforcement-related arrest in the courthouse. She said it was an immigration officer working with “a task force that deals with the DEA and the FBI,” and no sheriff’s deputies were involved.
ICE arrests are happening outside of the courthouse, Bilal said.
“They’ve been outside because they’re outside, everywhere in this city and other cities,” she said. “But they have not been inside, doing none of that.”
Bilal said she has received backlash to her comments at a press conference in January, when she called ICE officers “fake wanna-be law enforcement.”
“Anybody that makes a stand against what’s going on around the country, as y’all can see, is being asked to resign,” she said. “I’ve been threatened. My life has been threatened.”