(TNS) — A state lawmaker wants to prevent Pennsylvania municipalities and counties from designating themselves as “sanctuary cities” for undocumented immigrants.
State Rep. Ryan Warner, a Fayette County Republican, co-introduced a bill in November that was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
Warner said in a statement released Wednesday that an estimated 300,000 immigrants, 75% of whom were undocumented, were processed by border officials in December.
“Now, more than ever, we need to work together at the federal, state and local levels to combat the challenges that go along with illegal immigration,” Warner said. “Communities that grant sanctuary status are severely undermining that effort.”
Warner told WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh that there is a “national crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border and Pennsylvania must do its part to help address it.
In a co-sponsorship memo circulated in June, Warner and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Lehigh County Republican, said their bill would keep sanctuary municipalities and counties from prohibiting police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to detain undocumented immigrants who officers have taken into custody.
“This misguided attempt at preserving ‘human rights’ ultimately threatens the safety of citizens legally residing in their communities,” they wrote.
Police, corrections and parole officers, as well as those working for district attorney and attorney general offices, and judicial staff would be covered by the bill.
The memo says that a law enforcement officer who has “reasonable cause” to think someone arrested is in the country illegally would have to report that person to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Any person “adversely affected” by a sanctuary policy would also be given standing to sue under the bill.
According to the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, there are 13 sanctuary counties in Pennsylvania — Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Clarion, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Lehigh, Lycoming, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton and Westmoreland — besides Philadelphia, which has been targeted by Republicans for years for its immigration policies.
Butler County, which is north of Pittsburgh, abolished its sanctuary county status in February 2023, replacing it with a policy to cooperate with ICE officials.
Welcoming America, a national nonprofit based in Georgia, says that it has given Certified Welcoming status to seven municipalities and cities in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Erie, Allegheny County, Dormont borough in Allegheny County and State College.
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, a newly sworn-in progressive Democrat, told WPXI that the county should welcome immigrants for “population stabilization and economic growth” reasons.
“Not only that,” she said, “it is the right thing to do.”
