An Allegheny County Council committee gave its stamp of approval Monday to a bill restricting county employees’ interaction with federal immigration enforcement, setting up a final vote as soon as March 10.
The legislation, introduced in February, advances against a national backdrop of escalating Trump administration crackdowns and a local flurry of municipal policies either promoting or restricting cooperation with ICE.
The county bill, introduced in February, would prohibit county employees from a number of actions, unless a state or federal law says otherwise, including:
Inquiring as to a resident’s immigration status
Retaining citizenship information provided on county documents for more than 60 days
Entering into a contract with federal authorities to access county data to support immigration enforcement
Detaining a person for no legal reason other than a federal immigration detainer request
Assisting ICE or border patrol “in any capacity” with enforcement operations.
Council’s Committee on Public Safety voted, 4-3, to recommend the bill Monday.
Council members Bethany Hallam, Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling and Paul Klein voted in favor; DeWitt Walton, Suzanne Filiaggi and committee chair Aaron Adams voted against.
Allegheny County Public Safety Committee member Paul Klein spoke in support of the bill, which he said brings “clarity,” during a meeting March 2. (Photo by Alex Jurkuta/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
It could go before the full 15-member council March 10. County Executive Sara Innamorato said during a previous address to council that she would sign the bill if it passes.
The divided committee debated the measure for more than an hour before voting. Much of the debate centered around the bill’s necessity after county departments told council they do not currently facilitate any interaction with ICE.
“If we don’t do this we’re dependent on the good will of the people who work for the county,” Klein said. “I think the purpose of enacting the law is that it does bring some clarity.”
“There is a difference between policy and legislation,” Councilor Alex Rose said. “Just because a policy says one thing does not mean a policy is set in stone forever. It is important to legislate because administrations change, department heads change.”
Some members alleged that some county agencies, particularly the Sheriff’s Office, are more cooperative with ICE than their public statements suggest. Hallam said attorneys have made comments to council saying that sheriff’s deputies patrolling the courthouse have taken people from court proceedings into “other rooms to wait for ICE to pick them up.”
Last month Public Source reported a 2025 email outlining a courthouse protocol in which sheriff’s deputies would do just that, but the sheriff’s office said in a statement that its officers have not cooperated and will not cooperate with ICE.
All three members who opposed the bill said they take issue with how ICE has operated throughout the nation, but did not think the legislation would make any improvements.
Residents supporting a bill to limit county interactions with federal immigration agents filled the council chambers during a March 2 Allegheny County Public Safety Committee meeting, in which the bill advanced to a full council vote. (Photo by Alex Jurkuta/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
“I stand with all of the people who fear going out without their passports because they might have to show proof of citizenship,” said Filiaggi, council’s only Republican member. “That is Nazi Germany and that is the Soviet Union. But that is not what this legislation is taking care of.”
She added that she fears the bill’s passage could spur the Trump administration to pull federal funding from the county.
“We have a president who is vengeful,” she said.
Adams said he thinks no council member is “naive to the mishappenings” of ICE enforcement nationwide, and Walton said he thinks the entire council is “appalled … virulently opposed to what has been taking place.”
The committee adopted two amendments to the bill Monday that were aimed at clarifying that council does not have power over the county’s president judge. It declined to take up five other amendments that were introduced by members who opposed the bill, but the full council can still take those up at its next meeting.
Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
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