Occupiers outside City Hall today cheered upon learning that their recent demand has been answered: Philadelphia is ending its PARS agreement with I.C.E.
But Mayor Jim Kenney on Friday afternoon said his decision not to renew its agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – a years-long relationship which enables the agency access to the police department’s Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System – wasn’t informed by the Occupy ICE activists who began camping out in late June. Rather, it was the long and substantive conversations had with immigrant communities and organizations, South Philadelphia’s Juntos among them.
Mayor Kenney said he knew from the start that his administration would end the PARS agreement but wanted to ensure they were on strong legal footing. Two votes were also needed: one from the mayor and the other from the District Attorney.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner today said the city is safer due to the mayor’s decision. After the 12:30 pm press conference, Mr. Krasner flanked by his staff exited City Hall and congratulated the occupiers.
“They stood up for the rights of the underdog and they’re my sort of people,” Mr. Krasner said of the activists who’ve braved the summer heat under tents while distributing literature on the PARS agreement to passer-byers.
The agreement, which was said to be worth only a couple thousand dollars annually, will expire August 31st.
Philadelphia City Solicitor Marcel Pratt laid out in an email to Simona Flores, ICE’s Field Office Director, the reasons why the city opted not to renew its contract.
In addition to community meetings, Mr. Pratt stated that ICE conceded at a July 18th meeting that its use of PARS can result in immigration enforcement against otherwise law-abiding Philadelphia residents whom ICE encounters when it targets arrested persons; and that without any suspect-specific information, ICE probes PARS daily for persons who self-report that they were not born in the U.S. and targets them for immigration investigations.
We’re not going to provide them additional information so they can go out and grab someone, the mayor said of ICE when recalling an anecdote of a South Philly man snatched from his front step and interrogated for hours at a nearby PennDOT center.
“That’s not the policing we’re looking for,” the mayor added.
Erika Almiron, Executive Director of Juntos, in a statement, wrote:
“Today, Philly has shown once again it is not afraid to do what is right for our communities. We now serve as a real beacon of light to other cities across the country who may be asking themselves ‘What more can I do to protect families who are being torn apart?’ Ending ICE’s access to PARS helps protect some of our families from the grips of deportation and helps to ensure the city isn’t complicit in aiding ICE to do so.”
The mayor received much applause today from a crowded room on the second floor of City Hall. But maybe his biggest ovation was reserved for when he said: “If I could abolish ICE I would, but we can abolish this contract and we are.”
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