While walking to their car on the morning of Nov. 29, Balmer said she and her daughter, a U.S. citizen, witnessed \u201carmed men in tactical vests\u201d approach a home from all directions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had my daughter lock herself in the car, then took out my phone and started recording,\u201d she said, noting the agents eventually left without taking anyone into custody after questioning an occupant. \u201cAs they walked away, they noticed me with my phone. They condescendingly waved, took my picture and videoed me. I can only assume I\u2019ve now been entered into an enemy-of-the-state-slash-woke-leftist database. I do not think I\u2019ve ever been more afraid in my life. My daughter was unable to speak for two hours, and later told me she thought they were going to shoot her mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lackawanna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/STT-L-COMMISSIONERS-0219-11.jpg\")
Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak looks on during the commissioners\u2019 meeting at the county government center in Scranton Wednesday, February 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
An emotional Balmer went on to say that she and her husband first had their daughter, a Scranton Prep senior, keep pictures of her passport and \u201ccertificate of citizenship\u201d on her phone. After hearing stories of immigrants having their phones seized by ICE before they could show proof of citizenship, they had her start carrying her physical passport on her person.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live in the United States of America,\u201d Balmer said before holding up a framed photo of her daughter. \u201cWe are a nation of immigrants. My daughter is a beautiful, intelligent, kind and gentle human being. She is a senior in high school. She is the absolute light and joy in our life. She belongs here. \u2026 She should not be worried about being detained by her own government for not matching her last name. This is not normal. This is not OK. We cannot allow this to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balmer went on to praise Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan for his proposed \u201cProtect Our Neighbors Act\u201d ordinance that, among other features, would bar county employees and agencies from assisting with federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
Under the proposed ordinance, unless presented with a \u201cvalid and properly issued judicial warrant,\u201d the county would not permit federal immigration agents to access a person in the county\u2019s custody, would not transfer any person to federal immigration agents, would not spend time responding to ICE or federal Customs and Border Protection inquiries and would not permit agents from either agency to use county facilities, information or equipment for investigative purposes related to immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
It would not prevent ICE or other federal agencies from enforcing immigration law in the county, but would bar the county from helping or assisting in that enforcement.<\/p>\n
Commissioners took no official action on the proposal Wednesday amid an ongoing legal review of the legislation. But debate about the ordinance specifically and immigration enforcement more broadly again dominated the public comment portion of the meeting, with speakers on different sides of those issues making their positions clear.<\/p>\n
![\"Len](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/STT-L-COMMISSIONERS-0219-06.jpg\")
Len Dobrzyn, of Peckville, expresses his support of the current immigration policies enforced by ICE at the Lackwanna County Commissioners Meeting at the county government center in Scranton Wednesday, February 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Scott Twp. Supervisor Michael Giannetta, a former Republican commissioner candidate, said 77 million people voted in 2024 to \u201cclose the border, finish the wall and deport the illegal aliens that were allowed to come into this country under President (Joe) Biden with a wide-open border.\u201d The 77 million figure roughly reflects President Donald Trump\u2019s popular vote total in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority rules in this country, and that\u2019s what the American people voted for and that\u2019s what\u2019s going on,\u201d Giannetta said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to see Lackawanna County become a sanctuary county. I think that the county, local officials, should be working with federal law enforcement. That\u2019s how people are kept safe. \u2026 I think we\u2019re much better off cooperating with federal law enforcement officials than working against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meeting\u2019s public comment period lasted more than an hour, largely monopolized by immigration-related debate and discussion. It preceded the portion of the meeting where commissioners can deliver their own commentary, with Wednesday\u2019s session culminating in an acrimonious exchange between Gaughan and fellow Democratic Commissioner Thom Welby in particular.<\/p>\n
![\"Lackawanna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/STT-L-COMMISSIONERS-0219-12.jpg\")
Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Thom Welby confer during the commissioners\u2019 meeting at the county government center in Scranton Wednesday, February 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Gaughan first harangued Welby and Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak over a county communications policy he claims is meant to silence him<\/a> before returning to the immigration issue and reiterating his support for the proposed county ordinance. Evoking the rise of Nazism in Germany while defending the proposal, a comparison he said he wasn\u2019t making lightly, Gaughan warned \u201cwe are headed down the road of fascism and authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs I sat up here today for some of the speakers, I disagree with them but I feel bad for them, because they\u2019ve been convinced by Fox News and by President Trump and by all these other right-wing nuts that we should be afraid of immigrants,\u201d Gaughan said. \u201cNo, we should be afraid of our rights as American citizens just being completely trampled over, because by the time everybody wakes \u2026 up in this country, I\u2019m afraid it might be too late. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s too late yet, but if we don\u2019t wake up and do something it\u2019s going to be too late.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaughan, who also discussed his opposition to data center development, ended his remarks with a pointed allusion to the communications policy controversy.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd hopefully, if my colleagues agree \u2014 if they review what I just said and they look it over and sanitize it or do whatever else they want with it \u2014 we can post what I just said on social media,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll need their approval first before we can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Welby, who defended the recent communications edict as a reimplementation of past policy, said he\u2019s baffled by \u201csome of the other things that Commissioner Gaughan has gone on about\u201d and agrees with others.<\/p>\n He called certain actions by federal immigration agents \u201creprehensible,\u201d but also worries that \u201cwaving a flag that we are a sanctuary area,\u201d particularly with Scranton being Biden\u2019s boyhood hometown, could provoke a \u201cfrightening\u201d reaction from Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was a lot younger sometimes I was reminded sometimes it\u2019s best to keep your mouth shut and your head down,\u201d Welby said, clarifying later that concern won\u2019t impact his vote on the potential ordinance that remains under review.<\/p>\n Welby also said he\u2019s \u201csomewhat concerned about what sometimes seems like deflection\u201d by Gaughan, mentioning thereafter the roughly 33% 2025 tax increase Gaughan and former Commissioner Matt McGloin begrudgingly approved in late 2024 and alleged accuracy issues with the county\u2019s recent reassessment. He also alluded to Gaughan\u2019s support for independent candidate Michael Cappellini in last year\u2019s special election for commissioner that Welby won.<\/p>\n \u201cI know Commissioner Gaughan calls himself the minority commissioner,\u201d Welby said. \u201cI don\u2019t understand that. I know that with his not getting his rubber stamp as his county commissioner that he campaigned so hard for that he has a real challenge, a real difficulty, dealing with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaughan attempted to respond after Welby concluded his remarks, but Welby and Chermak quickly adjourned the session. Gaughan continued to speak as Chermak left the room and Welby left the dais.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is like Russia,\u201d Gaughan said before accusing Welby of being a rubber stamp for Democratic state Sen. Marty Flynn, whose political committee contributed $100,000<\/a> to Welby\u2019s campaign in last year\u2019s special election.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/STT-L-COMMISSIONERS-0219-13.jpg\")
The Lackawanna County Commissioners Meeting is held at the county government center in Scranton Wednesday, February 18, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n