Federal officials are looking for office space in Pittsburgh for unspecified law enforcement activities, which national outlets report will be filled by ICE.
A lease proposal filed last month by the U.S. General Services Administration indicates federal officials are seeking additional office spaces in Pittsburgh. NPR and Washington Post reported last month that the proposal is part of ICE’s effort to procure office space in 19 U.S. cities via the General Services Administration. ICE already has one office in Pittsburgh.
The proposal seeks a 10-year lease for an office that “supports administrative operations for law enforcement” and can fit 70 workers.
Current Mayor Ed Gainey provided a comment on the lease.
“As we understand it, the City is included on a list of 19 cities in which the General Services Administration is seeking proposals for federal office space beginning in 2026,” Gainey said. “At this time, we are not in a position to speculate on which agency may ultimately occupy the space.”
In the Pittsburgh mayoral debate earlier this month favored Democratic candidate Corey O’Connor said he “will not partner with organizations like ICE.”
When asked if he would partner with ICE, Republican candidate Tony Moreno said local enforcement is required to operate with federal officials.
“City police officers are by rule ordered to [respond] when somebody from the federal government has a legal reason to be here,” Moreno said.
Immigrants account for 4% of Pittsburgh’s population and about 16% of the population in the country’s 100 largest metro areas.
Fears of ICE among the Latino community have become widespread under the Trump administration, particularly after the president began deploying the National Guard over the summer in cities with high immigrant populations such as Los Angeles and Chicago. In Pittsburgh, there has been a 267% increase in ICE arrests since 2024.
Democratic Sen. Jay Costa commented on the potential for an increased ICE presence.
“I have seen the rise in reports of rogue ICE agents harassing peaceful protesters, arresting lawful residents and evading accountability by hiding their faces and badge numbers,” Costa said. “I harbor deep concerns about an increased ICE presence in Pittsburgh and will be closely monitoring the situation.”
ICE has recently been detaining immigrants at their court hearings. Joseph Murphy, an immigration attorney at Allegheny Immigration Group, said a recent client who committed a traffic violation was pulled over and felt very fearful for his court date.
“The mood is terror right now,” Murphy said. “This guy broke down in tears. He called me several times, way more times than a normal traffic ticket client would, and needed some reassurance.”
Murphy said he believes if the lease proposals are for ICE, the offices will likely host its Enforcement and Removal Operations division, which manages identification, arrest, detention and removal of undocumented immigrants.
According to the Washington Post, the increase in ICE operations aims to expand the ERO and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. Murphy said he believes that because of the division’s relatively small numbers, they have to expand presence in more cities strategically.
In addition to ERO expansion, Murphy added that he thinks new ICE offices nationwide will focus on intelligence collection, surveillance, traffic cameras, police car cameras, wiretap and biometrics.
“What I anticipate they’re doing is a management office, focusing on surveillance, artificial intelligence, prediction and locating people,” Murphy said.
Dana Gold, the lead organizer for the Collaborative for Immigrant Impact, a group of 18 local nonprofits providing resources for local immigrant populations, said she is seeing “real, palpable fear” among immigrants, resulting in decreased school attendance, increased anxiety and depression and the curtailment of travelling.
Gold added that she is concerned ICE will hire agents who have no connection to the City, leading to poor relationships between law enforcement and residents.
“By bringing in people who are not from here, from shifting people who do work with ICE in this community to other locations, they’re creating a destabilization of the connection to the community [and] a dissolution of connection that these officers have with the community,” Gold said. “It will make it easier for them to be dismissive of humanity.”
Gold added that a larger ICE presence will disproportionately harm immigrants in Pittsburgh due to their small population.
“Pittsburgh’s a relatively small community in terms of immigrants in our region, and a large ICE presence would disproportionately impact the community here,” Gold said.