Immigrant Advocates Demand Gov. Shapiro Cut Ties with ICE at May Day Rally

On May Day, immigrant rights advocates packed the Pennsylvania capitol rotunda to confront Gov. Josh Shapiro and demand an end to the state’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Led by the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition alongside the ACLU of Pennsylvania, CAIR Philadelphia, and Indivisible Pennsylvania, the coalition called on the governor to take immediate executive action to shield immigrants from aggressive federal enforcement.

“Pennsylvania is our home and it’s a home that loves immigrants,” declared Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition. “The governor can ensure that Pennsylvania chooses people over fear.” The groups had sent Shapiro a detailed list of demands months earlier but say they never received a response.

Among their top concerns is Pennsylvania’s ongoing sharing of sensitive data with ICE. According to Alex Domingos of the ACLU, ICE agents currently access two state databases—the JNET system containing driver’s license data and the CLEAN law enforcement database—without judicial warrants. This unrestricted access, advocates argue, violates immigrants’ privacy and fuels unjust arrests.

The coalition also urged Shapiro to implement a statewide ban on sharing benefit recipient data with ICE. While the governor is involved in litigation to block SNAP data sharing with federal agencies, advocates want a broader, explicit prohibition.

Another urgent demand targets the Abraxas Academy youth facility in Berks County, where migrant children detained without parents are held. Advocates accuse the institution of a history of abuse and called for an Emergency Removal Order. Abraxas denies misconduct allegations and highlights its accreditation and oversight, while the state Department of Human Services says it monitors the facility closely. Shapiro’s office said it would act on credible abuse reports but warned that removing children from state custody would place them back under federal control, where oversight is unclear.

Advocates also want Shapiro to tighten rules preventing state police from aiding ICE, including prohibiting communication with immigration agents during arrests and forbidding traffic support for ICE operations. They demand a firm commitment that Pennsylvania will not lease or sell state property to ICE or Homeland Security.

Shapiro’s spokesperson, Rosie Lapowsky, responded that the governor has consistently pushed back against federal overreach and that state police do not inquire about immigration status during traffic stops. She also confirmed the state has not and will not lease facilities to ICE.

Yet federal immigration agents have made over 5,550 arrests in Pennsylvania since last August, many categorized as “collateral,” meaning people caught incidentally during raids targeting others. This pattern underscores advocates’ warnings about the consequences of state cooperation with ICE.

As Domingos bluntly put it, “Every act of voluntary collaboration by state or local officials feeds the cycle of fear, exploitation and cruelty. It’s important that every elected official hears us when we say, ‘not in our name, not with our resources and not in our commonwealth.’” The May Day rally made clear that immigrant communities and their allies will keep pushing for accountability and protection from the state’s complicity in federal immigration enforcement.