One Pennsylvania county is taking more steps to limit its cooperation with immigration agents.
On Thursday, March 5, Montgomery County Commissioners passed a resolution that prohibits ICE from using county-owned property or resources in civil immigration operations.
“This is a new layer of policy to prevent an unwanted federal invasion on something that we can control: our facilities are off-limits,” Chair of the Board of Commissioners Jamila Winder said. “For me, this is about right and wrong, and how we treat each other as humans. I’m proud to support this resolution. We’ve taken a lot of care in thinking through how we stand up for all of our residents.”
Under the resolution, ICE agents cannot use Montgomery County-owned parking lots, vacant lots or garages for any stage of an operation, including staging, processing or making an operations base.
The resolution also codifies a measure that says county employees will not comply in immigration operations without a judicial warrant or subpoena.
Montgomery County has also made signs that private property owners are allowed to display if they want to restrict ICE agents from non-public areas they own.
Officials also said the resolution doesn’t restrict or interfere with the execution of lawful judicial warrants or the enforcement of criminal law.
You can read the full resolution below: