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In the face of increased ICE detentions and deportations, dozens of legislators, advocates, and community leaders gathered on the steps of Pennsylvania\u2019s Capitol to demand that the General Assembly and the Commonwealth act swiftly to protect the safety of Pennsylvania\u2019s residents and communities.<\/p>\n
HARRISBURG, PA \u2212 June 9, 2026 \u2212 Today, Pennsylvania state senators joined dozens of advocates and community leaders from across the Commonwealth in a united call for ICE Out of Pennsylvania with a suite of bills to protect the safety of Pennsylvania\u2019s communities and uphold the rights of its people.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeneration after generation, people have arrived in Pennsylvania with the same aspirations: to build a future, to contribute to their community, and to create a better life for their loved ones. The opportunity to do so is one of our country\u2019s greatest strengths,\u201d said State Senator Nikil Saval (D\u2013Philadelphia County), who chairs the Senate\u2019s Welcoming Caucus, Philadelphia Delegation, and Urban Affairs and Housing Committee. \u201cTrump\u2019s reign of terror is expensive, unpopular, and at cross-purposes with a Pennsylvania in which everyone can thrive. Public resources should be invested in schools, healthcare, housing, and vibrant, accessible neighborhoods\u2014not in expanding a deportation machine that tears families apart and undermines trust in our public institutions. This is why we\u2019re demanding ICE out of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is never the job nor the jurisdiction of local government to enforce federal immigration law. And in a time when immigration agents are violating people\u2019s rights, assaulting our neighbors, and killing in cold blood, it\u2019s our moral duty to prohibit collaboration with ICE,\u201d said Jasmine Rivera, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition. \u201cThe Commonwealth should not spend a single second or a single dime of our state tax dollars assisting ICE, especially when a record-shattering $170 billion has been allocated to immigration enforcement, detention, and deportations. What communities actually need is affordable education, healthcare, and housing. Let\u2019s invest in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Included in the ICE Out of Pennsylvania legislative initiative are bills to ensure that sensitive community spaces like schools, hospitals, and polling locations are protected from ICE; that law enforcement activity is focused on community safety and that officers are accountable to those they serve; that opportunities for members of Pennsylvania\u2019s immigrant communities are expanded; and that when the rights of any Pennsylvanian are violated, they have a means for recourse through our justice system.<\/p>\n
Senator Lindsey Williams (D\u2013Allegheny County) is a prime sponsor of the Protecting Our Vote Act, a bill to prevent voter harassment and intimidation by ICE at voting locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cVoting is the cornerstone of our democracy, and your vote is incredibly powerful. If it weren\u2019t powerful, Trump and Republicans in the federal government wouldn\u2019t be working so hard to take it away from millions of Americans,\u201d said Senator Williams. \u201cBut the federal government doesn\u2019t administer elections. The state does. The federal government may try to enforce their will on Pennsylvania, but we have the final say on keeping voters safe, running smooth elections, and making sure every vote counts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The launch of ICE Out of Pennsylvania comes as Congress is poised to approve an additional $70 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, funding the Trump administration\u2019s targeted attacks on immigrant communities for the next three years. Already, the Trump administration funded ICE with a budget larger than any other federal law enforcement agency and most of the world\u2019s militaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cUpper Darby is one of Pennsylvania\u2019s most diverse communities\u2014a place where a quarter of residents are foreign-born and more than 100 languages are spoken,\u201d said State Senator Tim Kearney (D\u2013Delaware County). \u201cBut for over a year, our immigrant neighbors in Upper Darby and across my district have lived under the constant threat of indiscriminate ICE roundups. No community in our Commonwealth should be forced to live in fear, and our legislation draws a bright line to protect residents and restore trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
The number of Pennsylvanians detained by ICE last year was more than three times that of the year before. Statewide and local advocacy organizations have been on the front lines in responding to attacks on communities, families, and individual people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe run one of the key hotlines in the City of Philadelphia for residents to call in reports of ICE activity or abuses,\u201d said Erika Guadalupe Nu\u00f1ez, Executive Director of Juntos. \u201cReports describe a wide range of tactics\u2014from kidnapping people in broad daylight, to hiding in unmarked vehicles and plainclothes, to lying, threatening, or harming fellow residents of our state to facilitate state-sanctioned abductions. One caller reported armed ICE agents at her family\u2019s door, attempting to detain her father. They did not show a valid warrant, and ultimately threatened to break down their front door and take the entire family if the father did not come out. Like any other father here, he offered himself up and was detained. This is not an isolated incident. This is the predictable outcome of a system that operates without regard for constitutional rights, without transparency or basic regard for human life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support more than 50 people from our communities currently in ICE detention. Many followed every rule, every instruction\u2014they complied and were detained anyway. We know ICE is lying and weaponizing propaganda to trick the general public into giving up our needed resources for corporate power and federal overreach,\u201d said Elena Emelchin Brunner, Immigration Justice Organizer for Asian Americans United. \u201cNo one deserves this, and this is not liberty. We are currently caging our most vulnerable neighbors to feed a billion-dollar detention industry built on disposability and surveillance, using our public tax dollars that could be used for schools, healthcare, and local infrastructure. We need protections not only for our families today, but for the future of everyone\u2019s families as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearly 8% of Pennsylvania residents were born in another country, moving to the Commonwealth in search of a chance to build a better life and future. The actions and rhetoric of the Trump administration have made people fearful of participating in their communities and civic life.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince March 2025, more than seventy of my community members have been deported to Bhutan. Within 24 hours of their deportation, the government of Bhutan is expelling them to India and Nepal. Today, these deportees are statelessness again. Some are missing, some are hiding, and some have died due to suicide,\u201d said Robin Gurung, a board member of API PA and Co-Executive Director of Asian Refugees United. \u201cAs a refugee, I have seen the worst, and I have also seen the best. I have seen people coming together, across the aisle, with love, care, and compassion for refugees and immigrants. We cannot let ICE divide us. We cannot let ICE question our humanity. We cannot let ICE terrorize our schools, hospitals, and our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMigration is not just a political issue; it is a human reality that reminds us that we all, no matter where we were born, share the same desire to live better,\u201d said Dahiana Espinal, a Lehigh Valley resident and Make the Road Pennsylvania member leader. \u201cI am a U.S. citizen and often think of how far our country still needs to go in order to provide dignity and respect to everyone. Pennsylvania can start today by upholding the safety of its communities and the rights of its people.\u201d<\/p>\n
ICE is deeply unpopular. Recent polling found that two-thirds of people in the United States believe the agency\u2019s actions have gone too far and that agents lack clear accountability. A poll last summer found that 8 in 10 Americans believe immigration is good for our country\u2014a record-high level of support in a 25-year trend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have spent more than 35 years representing immigrants. What ICE is doing under this administration is not legitimate enforcement,\u201d said State Representative Joe Hohenstein (D\u2013Philadelphia County). \u201cIt is a betrayal of our basic American principles of due process of law. We are the birthplace of modern democracy and freedom. It\u2019s time we started living up to our legacy instead of tarnishing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery person deserves to feel safety and belonging wherever they choose to live. The Trump administration\u2019s deliberate and violent deployment of ICE agents\u2014whose sole goal is to take those rights away from our immigrant communities\u2014is despicable, and why this united coalition of lawmakers is vital in the fight to protect our neighbors,\u201d said Senator Amanda M. Cappelletti (D\u2013Delaware and Montgomery Counties). \u201cRepublicans in Washington think ICE belongs in Pennsylvania. They are sorely mistaken. Our united front not only sends our message loud and clear, but shows just how important our work is for the communities we represent in every corner of the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
ICE Out of Pennsylvania reflects years of immigrant community organizing and leadership. Proponents are committed to opposing the use of state dollars to harm residents and to harnessing the Commonwealth\u2019s power to expand protections and opportunities for all Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n
Bills included within the ICE Out of Pennsylvania suite seek to advance community protections on three fronts.<\/p>\n
Bills to protect community spaces include:<\/p>\n
Bills to strengthen restrictions on ICE tactics and limit local collaboration include:<\/p>\n
Bills to create avenues for justice and pathways for opportunity include:<\/p>\n
Prime sponsors of the legislation in the Pennsylvania Senate include the following members:<\/p>\n
Senator Amanda Cappelletti (SD17\u2013Delaware and Montgomery Counties)
\nSenator Carolyn Comitta (SD19\u2013Chester)
\nSenator Art Haywood (SD4\u2013Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties)
\nSenator Tim Kearney (SD26\u2013Delaware County)
\nSenator Katie Muth (SD44\u2013Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties)
\nSenator Nikil Saval (SD1\u2013Philadelphia County)
\nSenator Sharif Street (SD3\u2013Philadelphia County)
\nSenator Lindsey Williams (SD38\u2013Allegheny County)<\/p>\n