Harrisburg adopts ordinance limiting city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement

Harrisburg City Council on the evening it met adopted Bill 1 of 2026, an ordinance that restricts city employees’ use of city funds, personnel, equipment, data and facilities to assist federal civil immigration enforcement and prohibits retaining immigration or citizenship data unless required by law.

The adopted measure, which passed by a 7–0 roll-call vote, was amended at several points after more than an hour of public comment from residents and community groups urging stronger protections against federal immigration actions. Councilwoman Green, chair of the public safety committee, said the amendments were intended to narrow data collection and to make clear that city employees may not initiate law-enforcement action based on actual or perceived immigration status.

The council approved changes that: require the prompt removal of questions about citizenship or immigration status from nonrequired city forms; prohibit retention of immigration/citizenship information unless mandated by state or federal law; and bar city employees from initiating stops, apprehensions, arrests or similar law-enforcement contacts solely on the basis of immigration status. Council later added clarifying language that violations by city employees are subject to disciplinary processes under the applicable union governing policies.

Residents who came to the microphone said the ordinance should go further. "Ban ICE from all public property," said Brian Keysling, a Midtown resident, urging the council to add explicit prohibitions on ICE presence in parks and at city events. Other speakers asked the council to prohibit data sharing with federal immigration authorities and to require public identification for agents working in the city.

City officials and the solicitor cautioned that some data collection (for example, I-9 immigration documentation for employment) is required by federal law and cannot be eliminated; the adopted language explicitly preserves compliance with state or federal requirements and court orders.

Solicitor Grover and council members discussed implementation mechanics and possible legal limits. Councilman Rodriguez and others asked the law bureau and the mayor’s office to coordinate a clear employee notification and discipline pathway; the council added an amendment specifying that violations would be handled under the employee’s governing union discipline process and agreed to circulate the ordinance and guidance citywide after final ordinance form is prepared.

The ordinance, as adopted, remains subject to federal preemption questions in narrow circumstances but creates new local controls on routine municipal cooperation with civil immigration enforcement. The council returned the ordinance to the clerk to be recompiled and renumbered consistent with the adopted amendments; the measure becomes law if signed by the mayor or if the mayor does not veto it within the statutory window.

What happens next: the city clerk and law bureau will reorganize the ordinance language into final form and publish it for city employees and the public; council members said they expect additional technical amendments as legal counsel and community stakeholders refine implementation details.