Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter signed the executive order ending ICE Holds, which are non-mandatory deportation requests from ICE to the...
Stopping Police/ICE Collaboration (ICE Holds)
After years of community organizing spanning two mayors, New Sanctuary Movement and the Philadelphia Family Unity Network (PFUN) coalition won a landmark campaign to end all collaboration between the Philadelphia Police Department from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making our communities safer from deportation and keeping immigrant families together. NSM worked on this campaign for 6 years, from 2008 – 2014, and were always led by a core strategy group of immigrant leaders, many of whom were directly affected by the devastating collaboration between the Philadelphia police and ICE.
The PFUN coalition includes 1 Love Movement, Juntos, New Sanctuary Movement, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, and Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia.
Philadelphia’s policy prohibits all Philadelphia officials (police and jails) from complying with “ICE holds” (also known as “ICE detainers”), 48-hour holds of noncitizens (all immigrants, not just undocumented people) after they would have been otherwise been released from police custody or jail. This gives ICE, the deportation wing of the federal government, time to pick up immigrants who would have otherwise been released and put them into deportation proceedings. ICE holds and police/ICE collaboration is a key mechanism for mass deportation and one of the reasons why over 2,000,000 people have been deported during the Obama Administration.
Our policy is amongst the best in the country because it prohibits all police/ICE collaboration, regardless of immigration status and history with the criminal system. We believe, and the Executive Order reflects, that if someone has served their time incarcerated they should not suffer the double punishment of deportation after incarceration solely because of their country of origin. Our faith values call us to work for second chances and redemption for all, regardless of whether they have committed a crime. We are proud to have fought and won a campaign that clearly acknowledges and fights back against the intersections between the mass deportation and mass incarceration systems.
In 2015, Mayor Nutter announced plans to undue the Executive Order and begin local deportations again just weeks before he left office. We successfully fought to defend the Executive Order from that attack after a vigorous campaign. For information on the successful campaign to defend police-ICE separation in 2015-16, click here.
Check out this feed for the most recent campaign activity:

Unity Statement on the ICE Hold victory from the Philadelphia Family Unity Network
We stand here today as members of the Philadelphia Family Unity Network to celebrate the historic victory of ending ICE...

Successful City Council hearing leads to pending end to ICE holds, deportation requests
Community-Led Coalition Calls for an End to All ICE Holds Philadelphia—On Wednesday, March 12th, City Council held a historic public...

Philadelphia City Council hearing on ICE Holds
Philadelphia City Council holds a hearing about Philadelphia’s ICE hold policy. The PFUN coalition organizes speakers and packs Council chambers...

New Sanctuary Movement written testimony for 3/3/14 City Council hearing on ICE holds
To: Chairman of City Council’s Public Safety Committee, Councilman Curtis Jones CC: Philadelphia City Council, Mayor Michael Nutter Dear Councilman...

Press Conference with City Council, Citywide Coalition to Demand End to All ICE Holds
Press Conference with City Council, Community Organizations to Demand End to All ICE Holds Immigrants and City Council members: “Philadelphia...

City Council Visits to win support
In anticipation of the City Council hearing on ICE holds, New Sanctuary Movement members visited almost every member of Council...

Three Things You Can Do to End ICE hold requests in Philly
(Espanol abajo) On Monday, March 3 at 1pm, Philadelphia City Council will hold a public hearing on the impact of...
Kids video project to end deportations!
Workshop for kids & young people directly affected by deportation policies at 2pm on Saturday, February 1! We’ll be preparing...

Mayor concedes to weak policy, coalition rejects the concession
Mayor Nutter concedes to stopping some – but not all – ICE holds and asks the PFUN coalition to call...

Members visit City Council to win support before hearings
In anticipation of the City Council public hearing on ICE holds, NSM members and clergy visit almost all members of...

City Council unanimously votes to hold public hearing on police-ICE collaboration
Philadelphia, PA—November 21, 2013 — For the first time in Philadelphia’s history, City Council voted unanimously to hold public hearings on the collaboration between the Philadelphia Police...