WEST CHESTER, PA — A new flashpoint in the national immigration battle erupted in Harrisburg as State Rep. Chris Pielli introduced legislation Thursday to bar Pennsylvania from using state taxpayer dollars to assist federal immigration enforcement, setting up a direct confrontation with the Trump administration’s aggressive expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Pielli, a Democrat who represents Chester County, said the bill would prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from spending state-appropriated funds to enforce federal immigration law. It would also formally lock into state statute the Pennsylvania State Police’s long-standing policy of limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities, first adopted in 2019.
Supporters say the measure is meant to draw a bright constitutional line between state policing and federal immigration actions, while critics are already warning it could weaken cooperation between agencies and hinder enforcement of federal law.
“As state lawmakers, we have a responsibility to protect Pennsylvanians from illegal and violent government overreach — just as our founding leaders did more than two centuries ago,” Pielli said in announcing the bill. He pointed to prior legislation he sponsored, including H.B. 1968, which targets unlawful search and seizure practices by ICE, and H.B. 1880, known as the Officer Visibility Act, as part of a broader effort to restrain what he described as federal excess.
Pielli argued that formal partnerships between state police and federal immigration authorities, known as 287(g) agreements, have often backfired by undermining public trust and discouraging immigrant communities from cooperating with local law enforcement. The new bill would block Pennsylvania agencies from entering into or carrying out such arrangements using state funds.
The proposal comes amid rising political tension following a deadly federal operation that Pielli cited as evidence of a system out of control. He said Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother, was shot and killed by ICE during an enforcement action, calling it proof that federal immigration authorities have moved beyond civil enforcement into what he labeled “misguided and lethal paramilitary operations.”
“The Trump administration’s rapid expansion of ICE has eroded public trust in law enforcement and threatened our freedoms and rights,” Pielli said. “Without decisive action to protect these rights, the situation will only worsen.”
Under the legislation, state and local police would remain free to address crimes and public safety issues within their communities, but they would be barred from using state dollars to assist with civil immigration enforcement or to carry out federal detention or deportation efforts.
The bill is now awaiting committee assignment in the Pennsylvania House, where it is expected to draw sharp debate as lawmakers weigh state sovereignty, public safety, and the limits of cooperation with federal immigration authorities in a politically charged election-year climate.
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