Phoenixville residents demand ordinances after Feb. 3 enforcement; council pledges review and policy discussion

Dozens of Phoenixville residents told Borough Council on Feb. 10 that recent federal enforcement activity outside Borough Hall has left immigrant families frightened and called on the council to codify local protections.

At the meeting’s first public comment period, Sarah Howell, a borough resident and business owner, said witnesses and video of a Feb. 3 incident showed agents “dragging people violently from their vehicles” and demanded the borough adopt ordinances within 90 days to require federal agents to identify themselves, prohibit masks and unmarked vehicles, and bar use of borough property as staging areas. “The community is ready, and the community is begging you for leadership,” Howell said.

The meeting host read a prepared statement at the start of the meeting noting that immigration enforcement is a federal function and that the borough has not entered into a…