January 27, 2026
Molly McVety/Philly Voice
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks discusses her 'ICE Out' package to protect Philadelphia's immigrants during a rally in front of City Hall on Tuesday.
Two City Council members will introduce legislation later this week that would reduce the power of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents within city limits.
The "ICE Out" package includes seven bills that would prohibit ICE and other law enforcement agents from using face masks, unmarked vehicles and city-owned property for raids. It also bans city agencies from sharing data or collaborating with ICE and makes it illegal for anyone to discriminate based on immigration or citizenship status. The bill package was co-authored by Kendra Brooks (Working Families Party-At-Large) and Rue Landau (D-At-Large), who held a rally Tuesday introducing the measure.
"We've been working on ways to get ICE out of Philadelphia for the past six months and we started with our (know your rights) trainings," Brooks told PhillyVoice. "The next step was for us to build a legislative package to use our powers to legislate."
Landau said she and Brooks have been working on the package for months and always planned to introduce it in January, but the public outcry following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis made the timing more crucial.
"Being silent on what is happening will not stop (ICE) from increasing their forces here in Philadelphia," Landau said. "We have to act and make sure that we have all of the laws in place to ensure that we're protecting Philadelphians against the actions that ICE is already doing here in Philadelphia, and any future escalation of those tactics."
Following its introduction Thursday, lawmakers will be required to host a hearing on the topic before it can be brought back to the floor for a vote. Brooks said it could be as soon as six weeks, depending on when the hearing is scheduled, and that she and Landau are "moving toward a good number" of supporters to be able to pass the package in City Council. It's presently unclear whether one hearing would be held for the entire package or if multiple hearings for different bills would be necessary.
Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas (D-At-Large), Jamie Gauthier (D-3rd), Nicolas O'Rourke (Working Families Party-At-Large) and Quetcy Lozada (D-7th) all showed support for the legislation at Tuesday's rally. The package was created in collaboration with immigration groups including the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia and Make the Road Pennsylvania.
State and local officials have already called for the removal of ICE agents from communities across the country. Following Good's death on Jan. 7, a group of officials including District Attorney Larry Krasner and Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal demanded that ICE stay out of the city. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill have called for an investigation into both incidents and ICE's presence in Minneapolis.
Similar legislation has also been introduced in Allentown, Reading and the Pennsylvania state legislature.
