Gainey rejects Pittsburgh cooperation with ICE amid immigration crackdown

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Monday said his administration would not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

His comments during an appearance in Harrisburg come amid heightened concerns from the local immigrant community about ICE raids.

President Donald Trump has issued quotas for the immigration enforcement agency to ramp up arrests, according to The Washington Post, including at schools and other sensitive sites once shielded from such actions.

“My administration will not work with ICE,” Gainey said during a PA Press Club event. “We will do whatever’s necessary to make our city more welcoming. That’s what we’re built on.”

Olga George, a spokesperson for Gainey, last week did not respond to requests for comment from TribLive about how the administration would respond to Trump’s new immigration policies.

Kristen Schneck, an immigration attorney and chair of the Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told TribLive she was directly involved in the cases of two people who were detained by ICE after a raid on a Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood over the weekend.

She declined to provide details about the case, but said she’s so far been unable to track the pair since they’ve been detained.

“It’s absolutely changed as a result of Trump’s executive orders,” she said of mounting fear of ICE.

Schneck said she’s advising her clients to carry documentation reminding them of their rights in case of an ICE encounter.

Gainey said he doesn’t believe ICE will fix any immigration problems, only exacerbate fears.

“ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy — it’s not going to do it,” the mayor said. “What it’s going to do is create more situations where people feel scared, where people don’t feel safe, where people will do things that they normally wouldn’t do.”

Vanessa Caruso, a Pittsburgh-based immigration attorney, said she’s been fielding calls “all day, every day” from people who are worried about ICE actions.

“The concern is real,” she said, and it’s growing as the Trump administration looks to crack down on immigration.

Catherine Wadhwani, an attorney at Pittsburgh-based Fox Rothschild, said she’s heard chatter about raids at local restaurants, but none of her clients have experienced ICE visits. Some employers who previously were shielded from immigration raids — such as hospitals and houses of worship — are becoming more wary, she said.

“I think people seem to be nervous because they aren’t exactly sure what is happening” as a new administration puts pressure on immigration enforcement officers to round up immigrants, she said.

Though she hasn’t been involved directly with any such incidents, Caruso is taking extra precautions for her clients.

Some of her clients are required to check in with ICE in person while their immigration proceedings play out in court. Caruso said she’s now accompanying them to those check-ins.

Caruso said people should understand their rights when dealing with ICE. Agents can’t enter a home or car without a warrant, she said, and people detained by ICE should immediately contact an attorney.

“Even seeing they were doing things or trying to do things over the weekend, it’s just alarming things are happening so fast,” Caruso said, adding that ICE raids have generally not been frequent in the area.

Now, she said, there are serious concerns that raids could pick up speed.

“It is scary,” she said.

Pittsburgh’s public safety spokesperson, Cara Cruz, and George said the city was unaware of any ICE raids.

“At this time, the City of Pittsburgh has no evidence of ICE activity occurring within city limits and has not been asked to assist the agency in any way,” Cruz said Monday afternoon in an email to TribLive.

“As you know, ICE is a federal law enforcement entity that works outside the city’s purview/jurisdiction. Pittsburgh police will continue to adhere to the bureau’s policy on unbiased policing.”

The policy essentially states that city police officers can’t arrest someone just to investigate their immigration status; they must grant people civil rights regardless of immigration status; and they can’t inquire about people’s immigration status.