As the movement for immigration reform grows across the country, we worked with the Pennsylvania United for Immigration Reform coalition to put on a “prayerful procession” in support. Groups marched from North, South, West, and the Center of Philadelphia and met in Love Park for a rally and speeches from immigrants and supportive politicians. We …
After months of building and political education, we re-launch our organizing efforts to end Philadelphia’s collaboration with ICE on local deportations. At a public forum with immigrants, allies, and press, our immigrant leaders announced campaign strategy to stop ICE’s access to the Philadelphia policing database and the police handing over immigrants to ICE voluntarily.
For over a year and a half, we did extensive political education about local deportations with immigrants and allies, built up our membership, supported our members facing deportation through the Accompaniment Program, and learned more about how ICE and the Philadelphia police deport people out of our city.
In 2011, as a result of three years of coalitional effort against ICE access to the PARPS database, then-Mayor Nutter said he would blind the names of victims and witnesses to crimes from the database.
From 2008 to 2011, New Sanctuary Movement organized in coalition with other organizations across Philadelphia to end police-ICE collaboration in Philadelphia and to end ICE’s access to the Philadelphia policing database, called the Preliminary Arraignment System (PARS). PARS is the police database that holds all the information about people who have interacted with law enforcement …