Pa. Senate passes bill requiring DAs to notify ICE if they encounter a criminal defendant illegally in US

Alfred Lubrano, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 4, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill earlier this week that would compel district attorneys around the commonwealth to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they encounter a criminal who’s in the country illegally.

The legislation passed 31-18 with all Republicans present and four Democrats signing on.

The bill now moves to the Pennsylvania House.

As Americans protest the mistaken deportation and imprisonment of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the Trump administration battles with federal judges on immigration policy, new legislation telling prosecutors how to handle undocumented immigrants adds to a sense of growing unease among Democrats.

Reaction to Senate Bill No. 471 has been mixed, with officials from most regional district attorney offices saying that they won’t have anything definitive to say about the bill until it’s discussed at the meeting of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association later this month.

Calling the “common sense” measure a “victory for public safety and the rule of law,” a Pennsylvania GOP statement released Wednesday said that “no district attorney should be allowed to ignore federal immigration laws and put politics ahead of protecting their communities.”

The bill ensures that “illegal immigrants who commit crimes don’t evade justice because of activist prosecutors.”

The statement concluded that if Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democrats oppose the bill, “they should explain why they’re more concerned about shielding criminal illegal immigrants than protecting law-abiding Pennsylvanians.”

A spokesperson for ICE said Thursday that the department will not comment on the Senate bill.

State Sen. Dan Laughlin, an Erie Republican who is a sponsor of the bill, did not respond to requests for comment. Other legislators didn’t respond to requests to explain their votes.

The Democrats voting in favor of the bill are state Sens. Lisa Boscola and Nick Miller, both of whom represent parts of Lehigh and Northampton Counties; state Sen. Martin Flynn II of Lackawanna County; and state Sen. Nicholas Pisciottano Jr. of Allegheny County.

State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties, said she voted against the bill “because I know that it will not help our communities who are hurting — it will add to their pain.”

How the bill would play out if passed into law remains unclear. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits prosecutors from speaking to criminal defendants without a defense lawyer’s permission to inquire about documentation.

Anuj Gupta, president of the Welcoming Center in Center City, which helps immigrant arrivals with work, entrepreneurial, and business language skills, dismissed the bill as “performative nonsense.”

Such legislation sends a signal to undocumented immigrants to avoid all contact with law enforcement, he said.

“You are messaging that any such contact puts you in danger,” Gupta added. “That detracts from people reporting crimes. And that makes communities less safe.”

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