PHILADELPHIA PROTECTING ITS LAW-ABIDING IMMIGRANTS BY LIMITING COOPERATION WITH ICE, REFUSING ACCESS TO POLICE DATABASE

BY ALEXANDRA HUTZLER ON 7/28/18 AT 9:59 AM

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to face scrutiny for its handling of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, the city of Philadelphia has announced that it will be limiting its cooperation with the government agency.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said on Friday that he will not renew a contract that requires the city to allow ICE agents access to PARS, a law enforcement database that alerts the federal agency of real-time arrests and has often been used against people who are in the country illegally but have not been accused of any crimes.

Kenney told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he could not "in good conscience allow the agreement to continue." The mayor also told the crowd at the press conference that "all of us have ancestors who were once immigrants." The contract is set to expire at the end of the month.



Protesters from refuse fascism rallied in front of the I.C.E. offices in Philadelphia to call for its dismantle and an end to the Trump administration's immigration policies on July 7. The city has just announced that it will not cooperate with ICE by refusing access to its police database system.

Philadelphia, Protecting Immigrants, Cuts Ties to ICE