After more than a decade of collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) has announced plans to cease honoring ICE detainers that lack a judicial warrant. The decision, which comes on the heels of intense community organizing and advocacy, is being hailed as a critical step forward by local immigrant rights organizations.

In a joint statement released Friday, a coalition of advocacy groups including CAIR Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, Unides Para Servir Norristown, the Movement for Black and Brown Lives in Montgomery County, and the Woori Center, expressed “cautious hope” about the policy change. While the final version of the policy is still being drafted, the organizations view the move as a potential turning point in the county’s relationship with ICE and immigrant communities.

“We are cautiously hopeful that this will mark the end of ICE detainers in Montgomery County and if so, that will be a victory hard won by the community, for the community,” the coalition said in the statement.

However, the advocates were clear that the policy change, while significant, does not undo the harm already inflicted. “This change comes too late for the many community members who are now in ICE detention or have been deported due to past MCCF collaboration with ICE,” they wrote. The groups vowed to continue supporting those impacted by deportation and reiterated their demand for broader legislative protections through a «Welcoming County Act.»

The shift in MCCF policy came shortly after a high-profile case in which a Norristown mother was transferred to ICE custody, igniting renewed public outcry. “The expediency in their actions now proves what we have known all along… the county has always had the power to end ICE collaboration,” the statement read.

For months, community members and advocacy groups have pressured county commissioners to sever ties with ICE and enact policies that safeguard immigrant residents. With MCCF’s reversal, the spotlight now turns to the county government. The coalition is urging commissioners to take the next step and codify protections by passing the Welcoming County Act.

“The law is clear,” the organizations stated. “The county commissioners can and must pass a Welcoming County Act.”

The immigrant rights community in Montgomery County views this latest development as a result of persistent grassroots pressure. But for them, the fight is far from over. As the final policy is awaited, eyes remain fixed on the commissioners and the ongoing call for lasting, systemic change.