Facing a raft of ICE arrests in Norristown, residents and advocates took their fears to Montgomery County officials

After several adults had addressed the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners on Thursday amid a raft of ICE arrests in Norristown, 10-year-old Antonella approached the lectern.

She was too small to reach the microphone, but an advocate from the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition pulled up a chair so the audience could see and hear her.

Antonella said her siblings hadn’t gone to school because they were afraid of ICE, and she broke out in tears.

“I’m scared my mom would be taken and she would not come home from work,” she said through sobs. “Please pass a welcoming policy.”

After she finished speaking, Democratic Commissioner Jamila Winder left her desk at the front of the room to hug Antonella before public comments continued.

The young girl, whose last name is being withheld at the request of advocates who accompanied her, was one of about a dozen Montgomery County residents and immigration advocates who spoke at Thursday’s board meeting about ICE arrests as activists continue to pressure county officials to take more formal action in support of immigrants.

In the last two weeks, ICE agents have arrested nearly 20 immigrants in Norristown, spreading fear as enforcement actions increase nationwide. Norristown, the Montgomery County seat, is 33% Latino, with 18% of its residents born outside the United States.

As the county commissioners met in the heart of the municipality, residents reported that ICE agents were again on the streets, and more Norristown Municipal Council members spoke out against the federal presence.

Agents were on Arch Street about 9 a.m. and on Powell Street about the same time, Norristown residents said on social media, though those reports could not be independently verified.

ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. But the actions in Norristown mirror a national trend as the White House pressures ICE to increase immigration arrests.

On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a single-day record for arrests, more than 2,200, NBC News reported.

Hundreds of those who were arrested had been enrolled in the agency’s Alternative to Detention program, in which migrants who pose no public threat are allowed to live freely, tracked by ankle monitors or other devices and required to make periodic, in-person check-ins with ICE.

Now more people are being taken into custody when they show up for what they expect to be a routine office encounter.

“The actions of ICE are horrific, cruel and unjust, and they are not welcome in Norristown,” municipal council member Jasmine Griffen said in a statement Thursday morning. “I will continue to stand with everyone facing this extensive, traumatic, unjust and inhumane treatment. You are not alone, and I will loudly and proudly use my voice to fight with you and for you.”

Griffen was among the speakers at the board meeting Thursday. She asked the commissioners to join her in standing with Norristown’s immigrant community.

Democratic County Commissioners Neil Makhija and Winder have often spoken in opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration’s policies on immigration and have said the county will not deputize employees to assist ICE. Several residents thanked them for their support. But a handful asked for more.

“This is not just about the many undocumented individuals that are taken without due process,” said Jay Lee, a representative of the Lansdale-based Woori Center, which advocates for Asian immigrants. “This is also about the spread of fear and uncertainty for anyone who came to this country to pursue higher education, people with limited English proficiency, and people whose skin color or cultural or religious practices do not conform with their unclear standards.”

Advocates have spent months pushing the Montgomery County commissioners to pass a formal welcoming-county ordinance limiting county cooperation with ICE, especially in the jail. That action would not have prevented ICE from taking enforcement action in Norristown, and the Democratic-led board has resisted taking action, citing limits in the commissioners’ power and concern that it would deliver false hope to immigrant communities.

Democratic commissioners have said they are walking a tightrope as they work to protect immigrant communities while also following state and federal law — a dynamic that became more complex last week when the county was included by the Department of Homeland Security on a list of “sanctuary” jurisdictions that could lose federal funding. That list was later removed from the DHS website, and it is unclear if it will be restored and which jurisdictions will remain on it.

“We are doing what we can with our authority,” Makhija said. If a resident is detained without due process, Makhija said, the county would be ready to help.

“I’m not afraid and I know you’re not afraid of doing what’s best for our residents, and if we need to go to court, there’s plenty of precedent.”

Commissioner Tom DiBello, the sole Republican on the board, struck a different tone as he questioned the federal government’s decision to name Montgomery County a sanctuary jurisdiction but stood firmly behind the actions of law enforcement agencies, including ICE.

“There are people that didn’t follow the processes, and there’s consequences,” he said.

The board established an office of immigrant affairs earlier this year, hiring Nelly Jimenez-Arevalo, who had spent a decade leading Norristown-based ACLAMO.

Jimenez-Arevalo addressed the board Thursday, outlining her efforts in her first two months in the role, which have focused on a review of the county’s existing support for immigrants and external communications with immigrants and the groups that advocate for them.

An immigrant from Venezuela, Jimenez-Arevalo acknowledged the fear of ICE especially in Norristown.

“This kind of terror has no place in our community,” she said. “My fellow immigrants, I stand with you, whatever your situation is.”

Increased enforcement in recent days has also brought rallies and protests.

Advocates with Make the Road Pennsylvania rallied in Center City Philadelphia on Tuesday to support an asylum-seeker they identified as Edwin, 23, who was taken into custody on Monday.

In Chicago, a fracas broke out on Wednesday after federal agents detained at least 10 people who arrived at an ICE office. Activists and government officials arrived as news of the arrests spread, and Alderman Anthony Quezada said agents pushed him to the ground as chaos erupted, Block Club Chicago reported.

On Saturday, advocates have planned a “Montco Stands With Immigrants” rally in Norristown.

And the county itself held an Immigrant Heritage Month block party Thursday afternoon. The party, which featured speeches from public officials on the steps of the county courthouse, was organized before the raids, but Jimenez-Arevalo said the county chose to hold the event anyway to take a stand.

“We are making a clear and powerful statement that we will not be intimidated by anyone,” Jimenez-Arevalo said at the weekday celebration. She applauded Makhija and Winder for speaking in support of immigrants at a scary time.

“They have stood firmly with our immigrant communities even when others chose to remain silent.”