County Fight Contested

Philadelphia PA — City Council Passes 'ICE Out' Legislative Package

Philadelphia, PA FIPS 42101

Current status: Philadelphia City Council passed a seven-bill 'ICE Out' package on April 23, 2026 with mostly 16-1 votes, enacting among the most aggressive local restrictions on ICE operations in the country. The bills ban ICE from staging on city property, prohibit masked agents without badges, bar ICE from hospitals, libraries, schools, and other Safe Community Places, codify sanctuary status, and prohibit data-sharing with ICE. Mayor Cherelle Parker had not publicly committed to signing as of late April. Legal experts flagged federal preemption exposure on some provisions; DA Krasner openly opposed ICE operations throughout the spring.

The Fight

On April 23, 2026, Philadelphia City Council passed a seven-bill “ICE Out” legislative package, placing the city at the forefront of municipal resistance to Trump’s deportation campaign. The bills were co-authored by Councilmember at-Large Rue Landau (Democrat) and Minority Leader Kendra Brooks (Working Families Party), with 15 of the 17 council members signed on as co-sponsors before the vote.

The package passed with mostly 16-1 votes; two measures passed 15-2, with Councilmember Mike Driscoll joining Republican Brian O’Neill in opposition.

What the seven bills do:

No city property for ICE staging — prohibits federal authorities from using city property as staging or processing areas for immigration enforcement
No masked agents — bans law enforcement from concealing identities with masks during operations
Safe Community Places — bars ICE from accessing nonpublic areas of recreation centers, libraries, hospitals, schools, and courthouses
Codified sanctuary — makes Philadelphia’s sanctuary status statutory rather than merely policy, harder to reverse by executive action
No immigration status discrimination — creates a protected class barring discrimination based on immigration status
No data sharing — prohibits data-sharing agreements between the city and ICE
No conditioned benefits — bars conditioning city services or benefits on immigration status

Legal exposure: A federal appeals court had recently blocked a similar California mask law. ACLU Pennsylvania senior attorney Vanessa Stine called the Philadelphia measures “legally sound” and grounded in constitutional law, but acknowledged some provisions face preemption risk.

Mayor’s position: Mayor Cherelle Parker maintained a notably low public profile throughout the spring ICE surge and had not stated whether she would sign the package as of the time of passage.

DA’s posture: DA Larry Krasner publicly opposed ICE operations in the city throughout 2026, declining to cooperate with federal enforcement in ways that extended beyond his office’s jurisdiction.

Timeline

2026-04-13: City Council Committee of the Whole votes unanimously in support of ICE Out package
2026-04-23: Full City Council passes all seven bills (mostly 16-1 votes)
2026-04-24: National and local press covers vote; Democracy Now! headlines the package
2026-04-XX: Legal experts flag preemption exposure; ACLU PA defends bills as constitutionally sound
2026-05-XX: Mayor Parker’s signature (or veto) window opens

Key Actors

Councilmember Rue Landau — co-lead sponsor
Minority Leader Kendra Brooks — co-lead sponsor; “Philadelphians are not afraid to stand up to the Trump administration”
Mayor Cherelle Parker — conspicuously silent; signature pending
DA Larry Krasner — publicly opposed ICE operations; administrative ally
Vanessa Stine, ACLU PA — called bills “legally sound”

Why This Fight Matters

Philadelphia’s ICE Out package is the most comprehensive municipal anti-ICE legislative package enacted in Pennsylvania and one of the broadest in any major U.S. city. The combination of staging bans, mask prohibitions, Safe Community Places protections, and explicit data-sharing prohibitions creates layered legal and operational obstacles to ICE enforcement. The battle now shifts to whether Mayor Parker signs, and whether the Trump DOJ files a Supremacy Clause suit — as it did against New Haven just nine days before the Council vote.

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.

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