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Immigrant-rights advocates urge Williamsport leaders for clarity on local police cooperation with ICE
Summary
Several residents and religious leaders urged Williamsport leaders on Sept. 4 to publicly clarify whether local police will cooperate with ICE and to address what speakers described as a growing climate of fear among immigrant residents.
Multiple residents and faith leaders used the public-comment period at the Sept. 4 Williamsport City Council meeting to describe fear among immigrant neighbors and to request clearer city policy and public statements about cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Reverend Kyle Murphy of 1060 Louisa Street said he was speaking "on behalf of someone, and groups of people who believe their voice cannot be heard," and read a statement describing a woman, lawfully present and without a criminal record, who now avoids leaving her house for fear of detention. "They no longer can go to the library for story time, to the park to play, or out for ice cream," Murphy read. "We all walk around with the fear of being detained by individuals who are supposedly ICE agents. I say supposedly because they are people who do not carry any identification, and in many cases, they walk around hooded like criminals."
Laurie Rentalman, a Spanish-speaking pastor’s wife who said she has assisted immigrant families, told council: "There are people sitting in homes that don't have food because they're afraid to leave and to get food. I've gone grocery shopping for them." She asked the council whether it is aware of what she called a "dire humanitarian crisis" among Spanish-speaking immigrants and asked, "Do you care? And as a community, what are we doing for these people?"
Dr. Logan Jones restated a narrower procedural question for the record: if the city or the police bureau receives a request from ICE to plan or execute a large raid, will the city or police comply? He asked for a clear public yes-or-no answer and said he would return if he did not receive one.
Reverend Kathy Jordan, who said she moved to Williamsport less than two years ago, said she has helped people who were taken by ICE and asked the council to make clear how the city stands "on this" for people with and without legal status.
Council president Yoder and staff noted the meeting would proceed and that an executive session would follow. Council did not provide a public, on-the-record yes-or-no response to the compliance question during the meeting; staff directed at least one questioner to the police department or mayor's office for a formal answer.
Speakers said they plan to pursue further engagement; one speaker said they would file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for community development spending and American Rescue Plan Act reporting to better understand program expenditures.
