Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Although Minneapolis remains ground zero for backlash against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an increasing number of officials in Delaware County are speaking out against ICE as well.
“What ICE is doing in Minnesota, in our communities here in PA, and across the country is shocking and un-American,” state Sen. Tim Kearney (D-Delaware) said in a statement released on Jan. 26. “For goodness’s sake, Americans must believe their own eyes and stand up to protect our liberty before it is broken beyond repair. No one is safe as long as we allow ICE’s conduct to continue.”
Kearney’s statement came two days after the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration hospital, by ICE agents. Although Trump administration officials said Pretti was intent on harming federal agents with the gun he was legally carrying, multiple news outlets’ analysis of video from the shooting showed Pretti was unarmed and restrained when shot to death — sparking widespread outcry. A torrent of outrage also followed the shooting death of Renee Good on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. As in Pretti’s case, video of the incident appeared to contradict federal authorities’ narrative that Good was shot to protect ICE agents’ safety.
Kearney noted that he and his colleagues in the state Senate have introduced several bills to curtail ICE activities in Pennsylvania, such as legislation that would prohibit law enforcement agencies from wearing masks and ban local law enforcement resources from being used for civil immigration enforcement.
“Pennsylvania should pass these bills, but we need to be realistic that in a divided legislature, that is not going to happen,” Kearney said. Instead, he called on people to protect their neighbors and call their federal representatives.
On the municipal level, Upper Darby Township Council President Marion Minick reportedly said at a recent meeting that the council will present legislation at a February meeting aimed at protecting residents from ICE. And David Bantoe, chair of the council’s public safety committee, said in a news release that enforcement of immigration laws “must prioritize de-escalation, clear identification of officers, and coordination with local law enforcement and local authority to prevent confusion, fear or unintended escalation.”
Earlier in the month, council member Kyle McIntyre called for an investigation into the death of Cambodian immigrant and Upper Darby resident Parady La, whose death occurred while in ICE custody in Philadelphia.
In the state House, four Democrats recently introduced legislation that would empower the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to receive and document complaints from the public regarding civil-liberties violations by federal ICE agents or law enforcement agencies working with ICE.
And two state representatives from Delaware County — Democrats Lisa Borowski and Greg Vitali — were listed as cosponsors of a resolution that urges Congress to withhold additional federal funding for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration ICE “until meaningful accountability and safety reforms are enacted.”
