Commissioners in this Philadelphia suburb approve resolution limiting cooperation with ICE
Haverford Township commissioners voted 7–2 Monday to bar local police from assisting federal immigration agents in enforcing civil immigration laws, citing concerns about community trust and policing priorities.
Resolution 2476-2026 — sponsored by Ward 5 Commissioner Laura Cavender — prohibits township law enforcement officers and resources from participating in the enforcement of non-criminal federal immigration violations.
"Public safety really depends on trust," Cavender said in an interview Wednesday. "We don't want to be part of the climate of fear that is pervading our country right now."
Cavender pointed to last week's fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis as underscoring the need for clearer separation between federal and local enforcement, though she said the board was working on the resolution long before.
"We've been considering this and talking about this as a board for more than five months now," she said. "I would say that what Minnesota told me is that we didn't do it a moment too soon."
The township's police chief declined to comment on the resolution Monday but confirmed that Haverford Township has never participated in the federal 287(g) program — a voluntary initiative that allows local law enforcement to carry out certain civil immigration enforcement functions on behalf of ICE.
That's one of the reasons Commissioner Brian Gondek, of Ward 1, voted against the resolution.
"287(g) is an opt-in program. We do not participate in it. We have not been asked to participate in it," Gondek said during Monday's meeting. "What we're doing here is we're basically going to say we're not going to do something that we don't do."
He added he's "not a fan of political theater," and joined Commissioner Michael McCollum in opposing the measure.
As of Wednesday, ICE has signed 1,318 Memorandums of Agreement for 287(g) programs covering 40 states, according to information provided by the agency online. That number reflects a surge of state and local law enforcement agencies participating in the program, according to the Department of Homeland Security, citing that only 135 agreements were in place when Kristi Noem took office.
Cavender expressed concern over those numbers and said the resolution was "rooted in our values and in our legal obligations."
During public testimony Monday, supporters of the measure argued that fear of immigration enforcement discourages residents from interacting with police, undermining public safety.
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"Law is there to help protect and serve, whether you're a citizen or not," Haverford Township resident Mary Sullivan during Monday's public comment period. She added that she's a supporter of law enforcement and the military and has family members who are part of both. She says part of their duty is to "look at people as people."
A few residents in Monday's meeting spoke out in opposition to the matter. Haverford resident Michael J. Cole Antonio, a retired member of law enforcement, said that many of the public allegations against members of ICE are "hyperbole."
"We have to protect this country from both foreign and domestic intrusion," Cole said in Monday's meeting.
Ultimately, Cavender said she doesn't want people to lose trust in local law enforcement.
"We're very proud of our police force in Haverford Township – our community loves them," she said.
She hopes the resolution means it will stay that way.