Immigrant advocacy groups gathered on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol on Wednesday, calling on Gov. Josh Shapiro to end any remaining state connections with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including cutting off access to state law enforcement databases.
The rally, organized by the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, featured songs and speeches urging the governor to take additional action on immigration enforcement in Pennsylvania.
The rally also called on the state to immediately close Abraxas Academy, a residential treatment and detention center for minors that has faced allegations of abuse, including involving non-citizen children.
“This detention center, frankly, should have been shut down a long time ago,” said PIC Executive Director Jasmine Rivera. “Now, in addition to adjudicated youth, they’re holding unaccompanied minors. That is a risk.”
The Shapiro administration revoked the academy’s license as a secure detention center last year and says it now conducts weekly inspections of living conditions at the facility.
In a statement, Gov. Shapiro spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky said the administration does not accept any abuse at facilities licensed by the state.
“The Shapiro Administration has zero tolerance for any neglect, abuse or mistreatment of children in facilities it licenses and currently makes weekly unannounced visits to the Abraxas facility to inspect living conditions, have direct conversations with youth about their treatment and oversee programming for education and treatment services,” Lapowsky said.
Advocates argued that closing the facility would help reunite children with their families, but the administration said doing so could instead result in non-citizen youth being transferred into federal custody, eliminating Pennsylvania’s oversight.
“Our priority is keeping these children safe — and we are mindful that if an Emergency Removal Order were to be issued for Abraxas Academy, non-citizen youth would be transferred back into the custody of the Trump administration, at which point Pennsylvania would no longer have the oversight authority to ensure they are being cared for,” Lapowsky said.
The administration added that the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services investigates credible complaints immediately, meets regularly with immigration advocates and has repeatedly requested additional evidence of alleged mistreatment at the facility.
“The PA Department of Human Services acts immediately to investigate credible complaints it receives and meets regularly with immigration advocates to address their concerns,” Lapowsky said. “Our Administration has repeatedly requested any information or evidence of alleged mistreatment at this facility and has not been provided any new evidence as grounds for additional investigation. DHS will continue to perform weekly checks at the facility and requests that if anyone has information regarding the safety of children at Abraxas, that those details are provided to us immediately.”
Beyond the Berks County facility, advocates also called on Shapiro to revoke ICE’s access to the state’s JNET and CLEAN law enforcement databases.
Rivera said ICE’s access to those systems gives the agency access to identifying information on Pennsylvania residents.
“ICE has access to our two state databases, JNet and Clean. That means they have access to our Pennet IDs, and that data is already being used,” Rivera said.
Pennsylvania State Police do not conduct immigration enforcement or notify ICE about the immigration status of residents. Shapiro also opposed the planned ICE detention centers in Berks and Schuylkill counties, which ICE informed Shapiro last week were no longer in the works. The governor also challenged federal efforts to obtain SNAP recipient and voter registration data.
Still, advocates said those actions do not go far enough.
“We are currently under attack, and we are seeing the direct things that Governor Shapiro can do,” said Julissa Medina, with Movement for Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania. “He can take action now.”