PHILADELPHIA – Mayor Kenney and City Solicitor Marcel Pratt today announced that the City will not renew its agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that currently allows ICE access to the Police Department's Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS).
ICE officials conceded at the July 18 meeting with City officials that its use of PARS can result in immigration enforcement against Philadelphia residents who have neither been accused of, nor convicted of, a crime, during ICE enforcement operations.
ICE claims it was impractical to adopt policies and procedures that would restrict its agents from arresting law-abiding residents for civil immigration violations when ICE executes an operation due to information found in PARS.
Without any suspect-specific information, ICE probes PARS daily for persons who self-report that they were not born in the United States and targets them for immigration investigations, even though PARS contains no information about their immigration status.
ICE did not produce any information to allay concerns by the City and its residents that ICE's use of PARS results in inappropriate profiling by race, ethnicity, and/or national origin.
ICE stated that it does not audit or self-monitor its use of PARS. Nor did ICE demonstrate that it has clear oversight procedures to ensure the appropriate use of PARS.
ICE did not respond to the City's post-meeting invitation to produce additional information in response to concerns raised by the City and its residents.
In his letter notifying ICE of the decision, Solicitor Pratt noted that the decision has no impact on Philadelphia's partnerships with federal criminal law enforcement agencies, including but not limited to the United States Attorney's Office; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and other criminal law enforcement agencies or operations within the United States Department of Homeland Security.
This content was last updated on July 27, 2018 by Law Department, Office of Immigrant Affairs, Office of the Mayor.