DV Journal

Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies, including some here in the Delaware Valley, refused to honor nearly 500 recent detainer requests from federal immigration officers to hold illegal immigrants. The result in some cases was illegal aliens released into the community, forcing immigration agents to track them down in more high-risk circumstances.

Those are the findings of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) in a new report on sanctuary policies across  the U.S.

The review found Pennsylvania disregarded 486 detainers for the fiscal year 2023 through February 2025.  That puts the Keystone State in the top 10 for most detainer requests ignored — though it’s far fewer than the 13,000 in California.

Sanctuary communities “have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that obstruct immigration enforcement and shield criminals from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” said Jessica Vaughan, CIS director of policy studies and author of the report.

An ICE detainer is a request from ICE to a local or state law enforcement agency to hold an individual in custody for a short period — typically 48 hours or less — beyond their scheduled release. That allows ICE time to assume custody of the person, typically for immigration-related proceedings, such as deportation, in a safer, controlled environment than if agents had to detain them in the community.

Detainers also include “information on the alien’s previous criminal history, immigration violations, and potential threat to public safety or security,” according to CIS.

Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Chester and Montgomery counties –all governed by Democrats–are cited by CIS for engaging in sanctuary policies.

County officials were quick to push back.

Bucks County spokesman James O’Malley told DVJournal that, “Regardless of what some think tank says, Bucks has never designated itself as (a sanctuary community.)”

“Here is a basic outline of how we do things: Bucks County Department of Corrections’ procedures include full cooperation with federal immigration officials within the bounds of state and federal law,” O’Malley said.

“Such cooperation includes but is not limited to: providing ICE 24/7 access to the facility and inmate population; facilitating biometric information via live scan; allowing ICE agents access to Bucks County criminal justice information, as permissible under CHRIA (Criminal History Record Information Act) guidelines; notifying ICE of a release pending for any inmate ICE has requested the Facility detain.”

Notably absent: Holding illegal immigrants after their detention period ends so ICE can take them into custody.

“The Bucks County Jail and Prison together failed to cooperate with ICE on seven occasions since October 2022, including most recently in January 2025,” Vaughan said. “One detainee had been previously convicted of DUI, the others had been arrested for larceny (two), trespass, flight to avoid prosecution, receiving stolen property, and DUI-drugs.”

“They are not being candid,” Vaughan added.

Rebecca Brain, a spokesperson for Chester County, also denied that her county is a “sanctuary county.”

 Chester County Prison’s policy regarding individuals who are committed on an ICE detainer only (no other pending charges or holds) conforms to the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and more specifically the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Galarza v. Lehigh County, et.al. (2014). The county does nothing to impede or prevent federal law enforcement authorities from performing their job duties, and Chester County maintains a cooperative interaction with ICE officials in these matters.”

Again, what the county does not do is hold illegal immigrants when requested.

“The Chester County Jail and Prison together failed to cooperate with ICE on eight occasions since October 2022, including two times in January 2025,” said Vaughan. “The criminal aliens they released included individuals convicted repeatedly of shoplifting/theft, DUI, and others who were arrested for fraud, assault (one with a weapon), fraudulent activity with a computer, disorderly conduct, and trespass.”

Chester County is also notorious for the 2023 escape of an illegal alien, Danilo Cavalcante, who had been convicted of murder and was awaiting sentencing.

Delaware County has declared it is not a sanctuary county. However, the county’s Democrat District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, who is now running for judge, has declared he won’t help the feds enforce immigration law on “peaceful” illegal aliens.

According to CIS, the Delaware County jail declined to honor three ICE detainers in 2023 and 2024.

“It’s not a huge number, but one had a conviction for aggravated assault and had just been arrested for resisting an officer,” Vaughan said. “Another had a prior conviction for selling drugs and had been arrested again for burglary. Perhaps the subsequent crimes could have been prevented if they had cooperated with ICE the first time.”

As for Montgomery County, Vaughan says its jail is “the worst of the group. They failed to cooperate with ICE on 29 occasions.”

“This resulted in the release of criminal aliens convicted of drug trafficking and DUI, and more than two dozen who had been arrested on various charges, including burglary, weapons, assault, fraud, harassment, robbery, larceny, receiving stolen property, forgery, and child cruelty,” she said.

Montgomery County spokesperson Megan Alt did not respond when asked to comment. However, the county website claims, “Montgomery County is not a ‘sanctuary’ jurisdiction. Local police and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation work cooperatively with ICE in their work on immigration and customs violations and drug and human trafficking.”

Don’t believe it, said Vaughan.

“These county leaders can claim all day long that they are not sanctuaries because they have never passed such a resolution saying so publicly. But the fact is the jails in their counties are releasing criminal aliens repeatedly instead of allowing ICE to remove them from the country. This undermines public safety.

“What are they going to say when one of these released criminals rapes a child or kills someone?  There is no legal, constitutional, practical, or public safety reason to have policies that prevent ICE from taking custody of deportable aliens who have been arrested for crimes in these counties,” Vaughan said.

“The citizens of these counties need to hear about what is going on and demand an explanation for these releases– before tragedy strikes.”