PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council passed a sweeping legislative package on Thursday that puts restrictions on how Immigration and Customs Enforcement can operate in the city.
Immigrant advocates were ecstatic—breaking into cheers and chants as each of the seven bills in the ICE OUT legislative package passed. The bills place bans on masks and unidentified vehicles and require ICE agents to identify themselves.
The bills also bar staging raids on city property and forbid the police from acting as ICE agents, sharing citizenship data, or holding people on ICE administrative warrants.
Co-sponsor Rue Landau said the bills break new ground.
“We did it… Philly is now on the map. The entire country and possibly the world is watching us as having some of the strongest protections in the entire country,” Landau said.
The Parker administration has been trying to do the opposite—to avoid drawing too much attention to the city, affirming but soft-pedaling an executive order outlining some of the measures in the bills. Philadelphia has not attracted the level of ICE action like in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
Council also passed two bills that protect renters from frivolous eviction and require that rental units be in good order.
Both sets of legislation had sponsors from council’s dominant minority party, the Working Families Party, which leans left of traditional Democrats. Minority leader Kendra Brooks called it a historic day for the party and the movement.
“These bills are a monumental victory for Philadelphians, and they are proof of what’s possible when we craft legislation with deep partnership with the people in our communities.”
All of the bills faced strong opposition. Small landlords are suing to stop the renter protections. And two councilmembers voted no on elements of the ICE out legislation. The mayor had no comment on the bills but will have to decide whether to veto them, sign them or let them become law without her signature.
