Attorneys and immigration advocates: Philly courts and sheriff must end finger-pointing and work to stop ICE courthouse arrests

Jeff Gammage, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 21, 2026

Published in News & Features

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PHILADELPHIA — A coalition of lawyers and activists rallied outside the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center on Tuesday to demand greater protection from ICE for immigrants going to court.

The ICE Out of Courts organizers called on the sheriff’s office and leaders of the First Judicial District, which oversees the Philadelphia courts, to quickly revise and expand their policies to respond to what they described as almost continuous ICE arrests of immigrants who go to court seeking justice.

One man was arrested at the courthouse on Monday, the day before the coalition’s protest and news conference, advocacy groups said.

They said the First Judicial District leadership has declined to update policies to offer protections that extend beyond the courthouse doors, in some cases leading to people being arrested the moment they set foot outside the building. And they noted that Sheriff Rochelle Bilal maintains that her responsibility for security lies within the courthouse, not on the public streets and sidewalks.

“We call on the judges and the Sheriff’s Department to come together,” said Elena Emelchin Brunner, immigration justice organizer at Asian Americans United, “to ensure people are safe.”

The First Judicial District did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office declined to comment, saying “our position has been stated firmly on numerous occasions.”

Immigration arrests occur routinely at the courthouse, as people are trailed outside by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and taken into custody on the sidewalk.

Attorneys with the Defender Association of Philadelphia have described agents hanging out at courthouse entrances, in the lobby, and in hallways and courtrooms, always dressed in plain clothes and without visible badges or identification.

Many people who go to the courthouse are not criminal defendants ― they are witnesses, victims, friends, or family members. But some have been targeted and arrested by ICE, immigration attorneys and government officials say, causing witnesses and victims to stay away from court and hindering the administration of justice.

Arrests have increased since January 2025, when the Trump administration got rid of Biden-era restrictions on immigration enforcement at courthouses.

On Tuesday, Danitra Sherman of ACLU Pennsylvania told news reporters gathered at the courthouse that the First Judicial District was watching from the sidelines as lives were being affected.

“No one should be afraid to walk into a courthouse,” she said.

But attending court in Philadelphia has become less like walking into a hall of justice “and more like walking into a trap,” she said.

Groups in the ICE Out of Courts coalition include Juntos, Asian Americans United, Victim Witness Services, HIAS Pennsylvania, the ACLU Pennsylvania, No ICE Philly, the Public Interest Law Center, and the Defender Association.

They say ICE has been allowed to turn the courthouse into a hunting ground, even while other U.S. cities have embraced policies to prevent that.

In Chicago, the top Cook County judge barred ICE from arresting any party, witness, or potential witness while going to court proceedings, including arrests that might be made inside courthouses but also in parking lots, entryways, and surrounding sidewalks.

“The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest,” the judge’s order says.

Oregon law bars the arrest of people at courthouses, or on their way to or from there, unless ICE carries a warrant signed by a judge.

Much of the activist ire over ICE arrests at the courthouse has been directed at Sheriff Bilal. No ICE Philly and others say that by not barring ICE ― as judges and lawmakers have done in some other jurisdictions ― she has helped enable the arrest of more than 100 immigrants who were trailed out of the building and arrested on the sidewalk in the last year or so.

The sheriff has said her office does not cooperate with ICE, does not assist in ICE operations, and does not share information with the agency.

In January, the First Judicial District said that authority for managing ICE’s presence at the Criminal Justice Center rested with the sheriff, and that decisions around that were her sole responsibility.

That month, Bilal made national headlines for calling ICE “fake, wannabe law enforcement” and sending a blunt warning to immigration officers who might commit crimes in Philadelphia.

“If any [ICE agents] want to come in this city and commit a crime, you will not be able to hide, nobody will whisk you off,” Bilal said in comments that went viral. “You don’t want this smoke, ’cause we will bring it to you. … The criminal in the White House would not be able to keep you from going to jail.”