After a surprise traffic stop by federal immigration agents in Penn Wynne, Lower Merion\u2019s elected officials are drawing a bright line on how far the township will go to help ICE.\u00a0On Thursday, Lower Merion\u2019s Board of Commissioners issued a formal statement saying the township will not provide resources to federal immigration agents without a judicial warrant and that the Lower Merion Police Department will not enforce civil immigration orders. The move follows a late-January traffic stop on Overbrook Parkway in which ICE agents detained two men during a vehicle stop in Penn Wynne. Commissioners said the statement is meant to reassure residents while acknowledging the township\u2019s limited authority over federal law-enforcement actions.<\/p>\n
What the commissioners said<\/p>\n
As reported by Main Line Media News<\/a>, Board Vice President Jeremiah Woodring read a prepared statement on the commissioners\u2019 behalf and said the board unanimously supported issuing the formal text. The statement pledged the township would \u201cnot stand for violence, lawlessness, or persecution of any kind,\u201d and spelled out that Lower Merion will neither initiate nor accept requests to participate in ICE\u2019s Section 287(g) program.<\/p>\n In practical terms, that means the board is on record that it does not want township officers embedded in federal immigration enforcement and does not want township resources pulled into civil immigration work.<\/p>\n Police clarify their role<\/p>\n According to Lower Merion Township<\/a>, the Lower Merion Police Department reiterated that it has not signed, and without the Board\u2019s authorization cannot sign, a Section 287(g) agreement with ICE and that officers will not enforce civil immigration orders.<\/p>\n The department said it will only provide assistance to federal agents when presented with a valid judicial warrant. The township release also urged residents to call 911 if they observe what appears to be ICE activity in Lower Merion without a marked LMPD unit present, so that local officers can respond and confirm what is happening.<\/p>\n Regional context<\/p>\n Local leaders are not operating in a vacuum here. Their stance tracks with a broader regional push to spell out what local police will and will not do when federal immigration agents show up.<\/p>\n