The nation has been fixed on the mayhem in Minneapolis with ICE raids that have turned deadly, killing two Americans. But as PennLive’s Ivey DeJesus reports, Harrisburg, Norristown, Erie, as well as Lancaster and Lehigh counties are also facing their own mayhem.
ICE has taken dozens of people into custody, disrupting not only families but whole communities. And there are serious questions about whether many of the people taken into custody are dangerous criminals or have violated any laws whatsoever.
DeJesus reports that ICE seized eight Haitians in Harrisburg who had Temporary Protective Status.
Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, says immigrant communities feel under siege. Our entire commonwealth is under siege.
Immigration attorney Craig Shagin says the state’s immigration system is in utter chaos. If so, state officials must step in to fix it, and our congressmen should support them in doing so.
Protesters demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)AP
There are too many examples in Minnesota and elsewhere of ICE using unnecessary violence and downright cruelty to enforce the Trump Administration’s crackdown on immigration. It was supposed to go after the most violent criminals, but we’ve seen a five-year-old taken into custody and as well as a grandmother tending her garden in New Orleans. Rivera and Shagin are sounding the alarm that such atrocities are happening here, as well.
According to Department of Homeland Security data obtained by CBS, fewer than 14% of the people ICE has arrested in Trump’s second term had violent criminal records, and nearly 40% had no criminal record.
The impact of ICE’s rampage is being felt far and wide.
Farms are suffering due to a lack of workers, most of whom have been Latino immigrants. Ice went to a work site to seize a dozen men installing high-speed internet cable that would benefit thousands of people. These are hard-working people not common criminals or drug lords.
Who is this helping? How is this benefitting anyone?
This is cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Several courts have weighed in and demanded ICE honor law and release those unlawfully detained. And there are reports of ICE defying the courts and refusing to do so. Many Pennsylvanians are rightly outraged and have taken to the streets to show it.
Protesters assemble Tuesday evening at an ICE Out of Harrisburg rally outside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Government Center.Madison Montag, PennLive.com
There have been protests outside the MLK Government Center in Harrisburg, outside the state capitol and in cities throughout the state. And people are using their cell phones to document what often appears blatant abuse of civil rights.
The aggressive tactics of some ICE agents are making a mockery of all that America is supposed to stand for, especially due process and respect for the rule of law.
Our fear is what happened in Minnesota will happen in Pennsylvania. An innocent person here could face the same fate as Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
It’s time for all elected leaders of conscience, especially Republicans who have the president’s ear, to speak up, stand up and do what is right. We call on Pennsylvania’s entire congressional delegation to act now to protect Pennsylvanians and help end the siege of fear that is hurting our entire commonwealth.
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