A dozen No ICE Philly protesters were quickly ejected from the Criminal Justice Center on Friday morning as they called for greater protections for immigrants who go to the courthouse.
Group members entered the Center City building through different doors, then gathered in the center of the main-floor lobby to read a statement insisting all people be kept safe ― before being cut off by sheriff’s deputies.
The demonstrators wore matching red T-shirts that said, “Signs are not enough! We need policy now!”
That referred to small notices posted at the courthouse and elsewhere in the wake of city “ICE Out” legislation, which say the property is city-owned or controlled and that using it as a staging or processing area for civil enforcement operations is prohibited.
People who were in the courthouse lobby on other business seemed not to realize what was happening when the activists formed a line in the middle of the hall.
The protesters left when directed to do so, continuing their demonstration on the sidewalk outside. No one was arrested.
They urged people to phone and demand action from President Judge Nina Wright Padilla and Sheriff Rochelle Bilal.
For months, No ICE Philly has demanded that the court administration and the Sheriff’s Department take strong action to stop ICE from using the courthouse as “a hunting ground.”
Arrests there have increased since January 2025, when the Trump administration eliminated Biden-era restrictions on immigration enforcement at courthouses amid its ongoing, full-scale deportation agenda.
Immigration arrests take place as people are trailed outside by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and taken into custody on the sidewalk. Attorneys with the Defender Association of Philadelphia have described agents hanging out at courthouse entrances, in the lobby, and in hallways and courtrooms, always dressed in plain clothes and without visible badges or identification.
Many immigrants who go to the courthouse are not criminal defendants ― they are witnesses, victims, friends, or family members. But some have been targeted and arrested by ICE, immigration attorneys and government officials say, causing witnesses and victims to stay away from court and hindering the administration of justice.
“We are demanding that the court have a specific policy that keeps ICE out of the courthouse,” said Carrie Rathmann, a No ICE Philly member who helped lead the Friday event. “It’s a perversion of justice to have people fearful and not coming to the courthouse.”
Other places have created specific, enforceable policies, she said, and there’s no reason that can’t happen in Philadelphia.
“We’re not going to let up,” she added.
Efforts to reach spokespeople for Sheriff Bilal and the First Judicial District were not immediately successful.
No ICE Philly and other groups have previously rallied outside the courthouse and at the Sheriff’s Office itself.
They say First Judicial District leadership has declined to update policies to offer protections that extend beyond the courthouse doors, in some cases leading to people being arrested the moment they set foot outside the building. Bilal, according to No ICE Philly and other groups, maintains that the Sheriff’s Office’s responsibility for security lies within the courthouse, not on the public streets and sidewalks.
No ICE Philly is part of local ICE Out of Courts coalition that includes Juntos, Asian Americans United, Victim Witness Services, HIAS Pennsylvania, ACLU Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center, and the Defender Association.
They say ICE has been allowed free run of the courthouse, even while other U.S. cities have embraced policies to prevent that.
In Chicago, for instance, the top Cook County judge barred ICE from arresting any party, witness, or potential witness while going to court, including arrests that might be made inside courthouses but also in parking lots, entryways, and surrounding sidewalks.
Much of the ire over ICE arrests at the courthouse has been directed at Bilal. No ICE Philly and others say that by not barring ICE she has helped enable the arrest of scores of immigrants in the last year or so.
The sheriff has said her office does not cooperate with ICE, does not assist in ICE operations, and does not share information with the agency. In January, the First Judicial District said authority for managing ICE’s presence at the Criminal Justice Center rested with the sheriff, and that decisions around that were her sole responsibility.
On Friday, No ICE Philly members rallied outside after being ejected.
“ICE out! ICE out!” they shouted.
“Our goal was to be disruptive and get the information out,” said one group member who declined to be named, “and to make sure that we let our leaders know that we want ICE out of the courthouse right now.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.