Three Pittsburgh Council Members Propose Barring City Cooperation With ICE

Three Pittsburgh City Council members plan to introduce legislation Tuesday that would prohibit the city from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The proposal comes after Allegheny County enacted comparable restrictions earlier this month.

Councilwomen Barb Warwick, Deb Gross and Erika Strassburger, all Democrats, are co-sponsoring the bill. Warwick, who represents Greenfield, said in a news release that many residents have seen the "terror wrought by ICE agents in other places in the country" and have demanded action in Pittsburgh. She said city resources should go toward keeping residents safe rather than supporting federal actions that lead to "fear and violence."

Under the measure, city employees and contractors would be barred from asking about a person's immigration status. Law enforcement action based on citizenship or immigration status would be prohibited, and city employees could not give federal immigration officers access to anyone held in city custody.

The bill would also designate certain places, including parks and city recreation centers, as "safe community places." Federal immigration officers would not be allowed in the nonpublic areas of those sites. In addition, the city would have to report to council and the public on its use of surveillance technologies.

The legislation would further forbid Pittsburgh from entering any 287(g) agreements, which let the federal government partner with local law enforcement on immigration enforcement. Some area communities, including Springdale, have signed such agreements.

Gross, who represents Highland Park, said the city cannot allow federal overreach to keep residents from enjoying community spaces and public streets. Strassburger, of Squirrel Hill, said the bill makes clear that city government should be a resource residents can turn to rather than avoid.

The proposal follows a rise in federal immigration enforcement nationally and locally. Last week, ICE detained three workers from the Las Palmas shop and restaurant in Brookline. An ICE arrest was reported this month just outside the Pittsburgh police Zone 3 station in Allentown, and neighbors raised concerns after federal officers violently detained a man in Mt. Washington late last year. Separately, Daphy Michel, a 31-year-old Haitian woman from Charleroi, died in Pittsburgh earlier this month, days after ICE took her into custody and released her with an electronic ankle monitor.

Jaime Martinez, founder and executive director of the immigrant advocacy nonprofit Frontline DIGNITY, said the bill is about dignity. He said fear driven by aggressive or unclear enforcement pushes families into the shadows and makes the whole community less safe.

Mayor Corey O'Connor, Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams and police Chief Jason Lando have repeatedly vowed not to cooperate with ICE, as did the administration of former Mayor Ed Gainey. Earlier this month, Allegheny County Council approved similar legislation barring county employees from cooperating with ICE and prohibiting federal immigration authorities from housing immigrant detainees in the county jail.