Local
Philly activists demand enforceable limits on ICE at Criminal Justice Center
About a dozen No ICE Philly members staged a brief demonstration inside the Center City courthouse Friday before sheriff’s deputies directed them out. The group is pressing court and sheriff leadership to adopt a policy barring immigration arrests at the courthouse and its approaches.
A dozen members of No ICE Philly gathered in the lobby of Philadelphia’s Criminal Justice Center on Friday, Oct. 23, calling for stronger protections for immigrants who visit the courthouse. Sheriff’s deputies told the demonstrators to leave; they complied and continued their protest on the sidewalk. No arrests were reported.
The activists entered through separate doors and formed a line in the lobby to read a statement. They wore red shirts with the message, “Signs are not enough! We need policy now!”
The slogan referred to notices posted at the courthouse and other city properties after Philadelphia’s “ICE Out” legislation. The signs state that city-controlled property cannot be used as a staging or processing area for civil immigration enforcement. No ICE Philly says the notices do not provide enough protection and is urging President Judge Nina Wright Padilla and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal to adopt a specific, enforceable courthouse policy.
“It’s a perversion of justice to have people fearful and not coming to the courthouse,” said Carrie Rathmann, a group member who helped lead the demonstration. She said the group wants ICE kept out of the courthouse and plans to continue pressing local leaders.
Immigration arrests at and near the courthouse have increased since January 2025, when the Trump administration ended Biden-era limits on immigration enforcement at courthouses, according to the report. Immigration agents have followed people from the building and made arrests on nearby sidewalks. The Defender Association of Philadelphia has described agents in plain clothes at courthouse entrances, in the lobby and in court areas, sometimes without visible identification.
People who come to court may be witnesses, victims, relatives or friends, rather than defendants. Immigration lawyers and government officials have said that arrests can discourage people from appearing, potentially affecting court proceedings.
The dispute over responsibility has continued for months. No ICE Philly and allied organizations say court and sheriff policies should cover areas beyond the building’s doors. Bilal has said her office does not assist ICE operations or share information with the agency, and that the Sheriff’s Office’s security role is inside the courthouse. The First Judicial District said in January that decisions about ICE’s presence at the Criminal Justice Center rested with the sheriff.
The coalition includes Juntos, Asian Americans United, Victim Witness Services, HIAS Pennsylvania, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center and the Defender Association. Organizers point to policies elsewhere, including a Cook County rule barring ICE arrests of parties, witnesses and potential witnesses inside courthouses and in nearby areas.
Representatives for Bilal and the First Judicial District were not immediately available for comment Friday. The demonstrators urged residents to contact both officials and continued chanting “ICE out” outside the courthouse.