Across the nation, state and local correctional institutions are being pressured to increase their cooperation with federal immigration authorities when non-citizens come into their custody. One avenue of increased cooperation is compliance with immigration detainers issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
 
Detained individuals can only be held in compliance with a detainer request for up to an additional 48 hours beyond the time they would otherwise be released. Unfortunately, there have been serious allegations in certain counties regarding the unlawful detainment of individuals beyond the 48-hour mark: a violation of state and federal constitutional protections.
 
Our state and local correctional facilities should not be in the business of using their limited resources to enforce federal immigration law. Only in cases in which an individual without legal status is serving a sentence for a serious or violent crime should state or local resources be used to comply with detainer requests.
 
That is why I will be introducing legislation that limits contact between federal immigration authorities and state and county prisons. To alleviate confusion and set a statewide standard, the circumstances under which the Department of Corrections and county correctional institutions may comply with immigration detainers will be clearly outlined. A universal compliance framework will protect detained individuals from violations of their rights and limit the risk of taxpayers footing the bill for lawsuits arising from constitutional violations. I humbly ask that you join me in protecting the rights of Pennsylvanians and clarifying the legal landscape for our corrections entities.