‘We will do whatever is necessary to make our city more welcoming.’ Mayor Ed Gainey said.
The mayor of Pittsburgh said his administration won’t comply with a federal crackdown on illegal immigration initiated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after President Donald Trump took office.
“I am not going to be working with ICE. My administration will not work with ICE,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said at the Pennsylvania Press Club on Monday in Harrisburg. “We will do whatever is necessary to make our city more welcoming.”
When asked about his decision, Gainey said that the immigration raids will not solve the crisis. He said that establishing pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants is the way forward.
“ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy. It’s not going to do it,” the Democratic mayor said. “What it is going to do is create more situations where people feel scared. Where people don’t feel safe. Where people do things they normally wouldn’t do.”
The Trump administration has not publicly commented on Gainey’s statement.
The president’s border czar, Tom Homan, previously suggested in media interviews that federal officials could penalize or jail mayors who refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
The Epoch Times contacted the White House press office and Gainey’s office for comment.
On social media, ICE said that it made nearly 1,200 arrests and lodged 853 detainers on Monday. The immigration agency said that on Tuesday, it had already arrested another 969 people and lodged 869 detainees.
Numbers spiked starting Sunday and included highly publicized operations, including in Atlanta, Dallas, and, most prominently, Chicago.
The new head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, signaled that ICE would be carrying out a raid in New York City early Tuesday, according to a brief video she posted on her official X account.
Several other mayors of major U.S. cities also have indicated they will not comply with illegal immigration raids.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement this past week that “residents of Chicago” should “know their rights in the event of being stopped and detained by federal immigration agents,” also providing a link to an ICE office “if you believe someone is being held by ICE.”
Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove on Jan. 21 issued a memo directing prosecutors across the country to charge and investigate any local officials who will not carry out the administration’s efforts against illegal immigration.