Overview
- City Council’s Committee of the Whole advanced the seven-bill package unanimously after hours of testimony Monday.
- The bills would bar raids on city property, require visible badges, ban masks and unmarked vehicles for agents, and limit local cooperation or data sharing without a judge’s warrant.
- Philadelphia police adopted a policy two weeks ago that already curbs cooperation with ICE, and the department told Council the legislation mirrors parts of that policy.
- City lawyers said lawsuits are possible, and ICE warned that limited local cooperation would push the agency to operate more visibly to locate people released from local jails.
- The package now heads to a first reading later this week toward a final Council vote and then the mayor, whose position on the measures remains unclear.