TO: Mayor, Mayor Elect, Sheriff, and President Judge for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

CC: Philadelphia City Council, Philadelphia Delegation, PA Welcoming Caucus

From: [Your Name]

Over the past year, JUNTOS and the ICE Out of Courts Coalition have seen a disturbing trend of ICE arrests of undocumented community members as they exit the Criminal Justice Center located at 1301 Filbert Street, despite ongoing proceedings. By doing so, ICE is denying people meaningful access to due process under the law. People with pending criminal charges–who have already been released by the criminal court overseeing their case–should be allowed to return home. Instead, they are detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest detention center in the northeast, where officials refuse to produce them for future proceedings.

Our local movement fought hard to end police-immigration collaboration in our city. How does ICE have enough information to facilitate an arrest of this kind? Why is ICE even near our courthouses to begin with, when DHS’ own memorandum restricts this type of enforcement action? This should be unacceptable in a "Certified Welcoming City".

Now, we are calling on you to defend Sanctuary in Philadelphia by supporting our following demands:

- A city investigation into how ICE is gaining information about courthouse appearances and any possible violations of the city’s Welcoming City Policy

- Written commitment from both the sheriff’s office and the President Judge for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas that they will not cooperate with ICE.

- Have ICE cease any further arrest of any person with pending criminal charges

ICE Courthouse Arrests: What is the issue?

Policing and incarceration disproportionately targets Black and brown people. Immigrants specifically are subject to “double-punishment” based on where they were born.

Dozens of arrests have occurred over the past year, separating families, and resulting in the detention of multiple immigrant community members across a range of ages, genders, countries of national origin, and charges.

We heard from dozens of people detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, about human rights abuses, including the misuse of solitary, lack of adequate medical and mental health care, and language access issues. We have also heard from people in ICE detention and their attorneys that despite state court orders directing ICE to produce people for their criminal court proceedings, ICE has refused to comply with those orders, including for court appearances virtually.

Because Philadelphia is a Welcoming City, there should be limited ways for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to get information on community members with pending criminal charges or their court date.

Why We Need An Investigation

In February of this year, Philadelphia was designated a “Certified Welcoming City,” for its “principled response to migration, driven by values of equity and inclusion.”

Courthouse arrests are not only a violation of rights, they can be a matter of life and death– for a domestic violence survivor seeking a protection order or an individual unfairly facing eviction. For those detained, they face significant barriers to access to their criminal court proceedings, as there are reports of ICE refusing to comply with court orders from the state to produce people for their court appearance, even virtually.

Plus, we're in the dark about how ICE is coordinating to detain immigrant community members just as they are leaving our local courthouse. Our Sanctuary City policy flat-out prohibits collaboration between ICE and the police and back in 2018, our local movement succeeded in having the city of Philadelphia cut off ICE's access to the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS). So, these arrests? They're especially concerning.

This is why we encourage you to join us in demanding that ICE cease any further arrest of any person with pending criminal charges until there has been a formal investigation launched into how ICE is gaining information about courthouse appearances and any possible violations of the city’s Welcoming City Policy.

Access to courts is a fundamental right protected by the First and Fifth Amendments, but in the “Certified Welcoming City” of Philadelphia, our people do not have due process or equal protection under the law. JUNTOS, alongside the ICE Out of Courts Coalition say No More ICE in Our Courts! Community takes care of community! Join us!