PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids escalate in the region, elected officials met in Montgomery County on Tuesday to denounce the federal government's actions.
“ICE agents, if you can hear me, do not follow these cruel orders that violate the basic decency that we all recognize,” said state Sen. Art Haywood of Philadelphia. Haywood was one of several leaders who gathered in Eagleville, near the site of an ICE raid on Monday.
“And for all immigrants who are terrified [and] traumatized by what they see on television and in these neighborhoods, we stand with you.”
Heavily armed, masked agents arrested a man inside a home near Barry Avenue and Ridge Pike. Dr. Janine Darby, a Lower Providence Township Council supervisor, witnessed the raid.
“What I saw was devastating: children crying, a family in shock and a home destroyed after agents broke down the door. No child should feel that kind of fear inside their own home,” she shared.
“Because it was freezing, I made sure the door was repaired immediately and stayed until it was fixed.”
Darby said a woman inside the home was recording the raid on video when an agent punched her in the face.
For community members who want to continue to protest ICE and document what is going on, Haywood said a series of nonviolent resistance training classes will be held, "so we can prepare what is coming our way as well as what is happening today.”
The first class will be held Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of Germantown at 6001 Germantown Avenue.