ICE Prohibited From Using Montgomery County Property, New Resolution States

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County adopted a resolution Thursday prohibiting immigration enforcement from using any county property for their operations.

It's the latest move by the Democratic-controlled Board of Commissioners to attempt to counter ICE activity in a predominantly blue county that is full of immigrants.

Commissioner Jamila Winder called it a "new layer of policy to prevent an unwanted federal invasion."

"For me, this is about right and wrong, and how we treat each other as humans," Winder said. "I’m proud to support this resolution. We’ve taken a lot of care in thinking through how we stand up for all of our residents...Our facilities are off-limits." The county has seen several high profile incidents involving ICE in recent months, including the massive raid on the Super Gigante in West Norriton last July and the recent early February raid in Lower Providence.

These and many others have turned into highly public spectacles, with neighbors and family members watching in horror as individuals are dragged away.

U.S. Homeland Security maintains they are simply enforcing immigration law. They've put on Montgomery County on a national list of jurisdictions that they say are "undermining federal law."

But the county says there's nothing lawful about the way ICE has been operating.

"ICE has ceased to function as an agency enforcing law but instead is creating lawlessness,” Commissioner Neil Makhija added during Thursday's public commissioner's meeting. “This resolution is about protecting the constitutional rights of every resident and the rule of law in Montgomery County.”

Local law enforcement agencies have all said they will only comply with ICE when they have a warrant, and they're compelled to do so by law. But the county's resolution takes another step, even if the situation was already de-facto very similar in practice.

Winder and Makhija said they were motivated to take further action following the recent deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

Specifically, the resolution restricts ICE from using county parking lots, vacant lots, or garages, including as staging areas or processing locations.

It further authorizes the county to post clear signage on county property indicating that it cannot be used for any purpose the county hasn't approved. Private property owners can also adopt similar signage, which can be downloaded here.

The full text of the resolution is available here.