PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia is prepared to fight any effort to punish it for its immigration policies, according to the city solicitor’s testimony at Tuesday’s budget hearing before City Council.
Though Mayor Cherelle Parker has said many times that the executive order asserting the city’s right to decline detainer requests from immigration authorities is still in force, she always pivots immediately to her own agenda without addressing how she would respond to a challenge from the Trump administration.
So Council President Kenyatta Johnson asked city solicitor Renee Garcia, who said a challenge may be coming.
Garcia told Council she expects U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to issue letters next month, telling recipients they’ve been deemed sanctuary cities, but she said she doesn’t know if Philadelphia will get one.
“We have no definition of what they think is a sanctuary city. We do not use that term. It is a term that is bandied about to accuse municipalities, counties or states of illegally harboring undocumented people,” she said.
Garcia told Council she felt very sure of the legality of the city’s position — that a judicial warrant is necessary before the city can detain anyone.
“We've already litigated this issue. We litigated this issue in 2017 and 2018. They cannot cut off funding, it is very clear. If we have to litigate, we’ll do that,” she said.
“We believe we are following the law. We know that we are following the law. Nonetheless, we may get this letter designating us a sanctuary city.”
Garcia said the city would have time to respond and, if the Trump administration tried to withhold funds, the city would sue.
“The legal road is long but the courts have really been stepping up to protect the rule of law,” she said.
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Johnson responded. “We’re prepared to fight.”