On January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded a policy that protected sensitive locations, such as schools and hospitals, from immigration enforcement, replacing it with an unreleased directive that gives ICE agents unbridled power to take enforcement actions in any of these spaces. 

As a result, ICE has increasingly conducted reckless, warrantless immigration arrests in places that should be safe. This has created a chilling effect; discouraging residents from seeking essential services, frightening our communities and undermining public trust in our government.   

The Commonwealth has a clear and established right to regulate its own facilities and ensure equal access to state services. Pennsylvanians must be able to safely access court proceedings, public schools, health care providers, benefits offices, employment agencies, victim services, and the like, without fear of a civil immigration arrest. 

This legislation will prevent civil immigration arrests by federal immigration authorities inside, or within 1,000 feet of Commonwealth owned or leased facilities unless supported by a judicial warrant or judicial order.  

Similar laws have been enacted and upheld against legal challenges in New York, Connecticut, Illinois, and Washington. Nationwide, states are safeguarding their residents while adhering to well established legal precedent. 

The law is clear: “The Federal Government may neither issue directives requiring the States to address particular problems, nor command the States' officers, or those of their political subdivisions, to administer or enforce a federal regulatory program.” Printz v. U.S., 521 U.S. 898 (1997). Further, under the Tenth Amendment states retain full authority to regulate their own facilities and manage their resources free from federal commandeering. 

Recent court rulings have reinforced this principle, rejecting attempts by the Department of Justice to overturn state laws relating to immigration enforcement and cautioning that doing so would “provide an end-run around the Tenth Amendment.” U.S. v. Illinois, 796 F. Supp. 3d 494 (N.D. Ill. 2025). 

In the absence of compassionate federal policy or Congressional intervention to address harmful ICE practices, the Commonwealth has the responsibility and the authority to protect our residents. 

Join me in co-sponsoring this timely and important legislation.