The Democrat-dominated Radnor Township Board of Commissioners voted 6-0 Tuesday to make their community a sanctuary city, joining the national debate over immigration enforcement.

The board’s lone Republican abstained.

The commissioners voted to bar Radnor police from assisting federal immigration enforcement, passing a resolution that blocks cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during non-criminal investigations.

While police may still enforce federal, state, or local criminal warrants, Resolution 104 instructs officers to ignore requests from ICE or other federal agencies related to “non-criminal administrative enforcement activities.” Officers will receive training to ensure proper implementation of the policy.

“[This measure is] about ensuring that no one in Radnor has to fear that a call for help could lead to deportation,” said Ward 5 Commissioner Moira Mulroney. “It’s about standing up for human dignity and our responsibility to do what is just.”

Supporters of increased immigration argue that the “just” way to enforce immigration laws is to enforce them equally on everyone in the country illegally.

Ward 6 Commissioner Jake Abel, the board’s lone Republican, criticized the board’s move as politically motivated.

“This is another political stunt by the majority so they can run political ads in the fall,” Abel wrote in his newsletter. “There are dozens of issues that directly impact our neighborhoods that we should be talking about.”

Abel abstained from the vote and said he did not believe a township commissioner should divide the community by taking up national issues. He declined further comment when reached by DVJournal.

Radnor, an affluent township of 33,228 in Delaware County, is not particularly diverse. U.S. Census Bureau data showed more than 26,000 residents are White, while almost 3,800 are Asian, and 1,320 are Black. It’s estimated that 5,500 residents speak a language other than English, about 17.2 percent of the population.

“We probably don’t have a sort of demographic that’s being targeted by ICE as much as we’re seeing in our neighboring communities,” Mulroney acknowledged to DVJournal.

By voting to embrace sanctuary policies, Radnor joins a long line of local communities whose political leaders oppose increased immigration enforcement.

In May, the Trump administration accused Delaware County of obstructing federal immigration enforcement, labelling it a sanctuary county. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer has said his staff will not help ICE enforce immigration law if the illegal aliens involved haven’t committed an additional offense.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also labeled the city of Philadelphia, along with Chester and Montgomery counties, as areas where illegal immigrants could live without fear of arrest.

“These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

But Mulroney characterized the resolution as a way to gain more trust from the community. She said it was important to her to make sure any illegal immigrant would feel safe about reporting a crime.

She was not worried about political blowback. “The only response I’ve gotten is appreciation and recognition from people in the room at the meeting who thanked me for doing it,” said Mulroney.

Radnor Township GOP Chairman Howard Gartland told DVJournal it wasn’t smart politics to “poke the bear” and risk losing federal funding.

“It’s just a tone deaf virtue signal without considering additional consequences to funding and to the safety of our law enforcement officers,” he said.

“What does the local government do?” he asked rhetorically. “Pick up the trash, maintain the roads, provide for law enforcement …

“Imagine you’re a Radnor police officer. How do you interpret this resolution?”