contested — County Council voted 11-3 to ban ICE cooperation March 2026. Arrests tripled to 1,425 in 2025. Sheriff deputies observed assisting ICE in courthouse despite denials. Small municipalities signed then reversed 287(g) agreements after press exposure.

paused — DHS purchased a 518,140 sq ft warehouse in Upper Bern Township on February 2, 2026 for $87.4M, planning a 1,500-bed immigration processing facility. PA DEP issued administrative orders on March 5, 2026, barring DHS from occupying the site or connecting to water or sewer until it demonstrates compliance with state environmental law — the proposed facility would spike sewage from 8,000 to 100,000 gallons per day against a 155,000-gpd plant. ICE filed an appeal April 8 with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board; Judge Bernard Labuskes Jr. assigned; discovery and settlement negotiations run through November 2026, with contested resolution potentially taking years.

contested — 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.

paused — DHS purchased the 1.3-million sq ft former Big Lots distribution warehouse in Tremont Township on January 29, 2026 for $119.5M, planning a 7,500-bed detention facility — the largest proposed in the United States. PA DEP's March 5, 2026 orders block water and sewer connection and prohibit occupancy. The facility would require 800,000 gallons of water per day — double the local system's entire capacity, enough to drain the community reservoir in a single day. ICE and DHS appealed to the PA Environmental Hearing Board on April 8; both PA sites are in a single consolidated proceeding with a discovery/negotiation schedule running through November 4, 2026.