Solidarity Lancaster

08/29/2026

Join us tomorrow, 8/30, from 1-3pm!

ICE arrests are ramping up in Lancaster. An increasing number of arrests are being made by some of our local police departments through 287(g) agreements with ICE. Join us on Sunday, August 30th from 1-3pm at Landisville Mennonite Church as we take the campaign to end 287(g) local. The greatest impact we can make is on the municipal level. Let’s organize to have current agreements dropped and prevent future ones from being signed.

A record number of people were arrest by ICE across the US in June & July. We also know that immigration arrests have been rising quickly in Lancaster. They have increased detentions without the spectacle of occupation that we saw in Minneapolis but still with devastating impacts to our communities. And one of their key strategies is using our local police departments to do their dirty work.

We’ve talked a lot about the 287(g) agreements signed by our County Sheriff and District Attorney in order to detain our neighbors on behalf of ICE. Our boroughs, townships, and cities can also make 287(g) agreements; some already have. There are currently four municipalities in Lancaster County with these agreements, and we worry more could be on the way. Additionally, we know that at least two local police departments have already received more than $350,000 from ICE in exchange for immigration arrests.

So while we keep the heat on our County Sheriff and District Attorney to drop their agreements, we also want to make sure our municipal police departments stay away from ICE. Our goal is to organize throughout the county either to have your municipality drop its current 287(g) agreement or to adopt an ordinance that prevents a future agreement from being signed.

Join us to be part of the push to make that happen.

Sign up link in comments.

08/25/2026

District Attorney Heather Adams continues to claim that nothing is going to change through her office’s 287(g) agreement with ICE. However, tomorrow during the Lancaster County Commissioners’ Work Session Meeting, her office will submit a request for an astounding $350,000 grant from the DOJ. This money is available through the 287(g) agreement with the intent to aid in immigration enforcement.

It is clear the DA does not intend for things to stay the same, but is instead planning an increased involvement with ICE and federal immigration enforcement. This grant is explicitly for future enforcement, including a requirement to submit performance reports to DOJ.

The DA has made unsubstantiated claims about increased crime perpetrated by immigrants to justify these requests, while the data actually shows a substantial increase in non-criminal immigration arrests in the county.

Just last week Commissioner Josh Parsons wanted to pretend that these were just “national” issues that had nothing to do with local government, but here is a request and likely vote by the County Commissioners on substantial funding through a 287(g) agreement.

If you are available, we encourage you to attend the County Commissioner Work Session tomorrow, 8/25, at 10am in Conference Room #701 on the 7th floor of the Lancaster County Government Center. Voice your opposition to this grant request and the DA’s furthering involvement with ICE.

08/17/2026

Our Response to DA Heather Adams’ Statement on 287(g) Agreement With ICE

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office has recently requested monetary reimbursement from ICE. In her announcement of this request, made in a statement marking one year since signing the 287(g) agreement, Heather Adams makes a number of claims about immigration arrests in Lancaster that directly conflict with the data that we have analyzed from ICE via the Deportation Data Project. DA Adams announces that $45,000 dollars is being requested for activities “between January and March 2026.” The data used below extends through March 10, 2026, and covers the majority of the period in question.

DA Adams stresses that allowing custodial transfers from the jail are nothing new and that it prevents ICE from taking someone into custody in the community. This statement, while true, ignores the startling increase in non-custodial immigration arrests in Lancaster County. Historically, the majority of arrests were custodial transfers performed through a program called CAP. In 2024, 95% of immigration arrests in Lancaster were custodial transfers from the jail or parole system. In 2025, a shocking 68% of arrests were non-custodial, meaning that they occurred in the community. In 2026 (through March 10th), 55% of arrests were non-custodial, but a startling 34% of arrests were through the 287(g) program. These arrests through 287(g) are majority collateral arrests. Collateral arrests happen when, during the course of a targeted arrest, someone in the area is also arrested who was not the target, often family members, coworkers, or bystanders. 61% of 287(g) arrests that we analyzed were collateral, compared to 29% of total immigration arrests in the county. We encourage followers to look into national trends on rising collateral arrests and how these types of arrests have led to racial profiling lawsuits. The claim that 287(g) agreements are preventing ICE from coming into our community to conduct non-custodial arrests is categorically refuted by ICE’s own data.

DA Adams says that “many illegal aliens who have committed crimes” have been taken into custody, and notes a 2024 rise in the number of crimes committed by “illegal aliens”. We do not have access to data that shows the proportion of crimes among undocumented vs. native-born individuals in the county, and we encourage DA Adams to publish this data, without cherry-picking or spin. However, we can prove that the proportion of immigration arrests targeting criminals in Lancaster County is going down, not up. In 2024, 100% of immigration arrests involved people who were either in the jail or the county probation and parole system. In 2025, an increase in arrests among non-criminal immigration offenders brought this number down to 65%. In 2026, only 53% of arrests targeted criminal offenders, while 47% of arrests targeted non-criminal immigration offenders only. Importantly, the proportion of non-criminal arrests is even higher among 287(g) arrests. A shocking 74% of 287(g) arrests in Lancaster have targeted individuals categorized as non-criminal. While we do not doubt that some undocumented immigrants commit crimes, it is simply dishonest to claim that this agreement is making us safer by targeting criminal offenders. Criminal offenders were already targeted under the CAP program before the 287(g) agreement was implemented and 287(g) arrests are targeting non-criminal offenders. We do not take at face value any claim that undocumented immigrants commit crime at a higher rate than native-born citizens in Lancaster and, again, encourage the DA to publish this data objectively.

The DA’s claim that “the only difference now is that we have formalized this communication and partnership [with ICE] with the signing of the 287(g) and, more notably, the stark and noticeable increase in the number of crimes committed by illegal aliens” is refuted by the trends in the data, that show increased number of arrests, increased non-custodial arrests, increased collateral arrests, and much higher targeting of non-criminal immigrants in Lancaster County. If, as the DA claims, “nothing has changed”, we encourage the DA to discontinue the agreement, as it would be unnecessary. But much HAS changed in Lancaster County, including the immigrant community’s sense of fear and mistrust of our local authorities.

08/12/2026

ICE arrests are ramping up in Lancaster. An increasing number of arrests are being made by some of our local police departments through 287(g) agreements with ICE. Join us on Sunday, August 30th from 1-3pm at Landisville Mennonite Church as we take the campaign to end 287(g) local. The greatest impact we can make is on the municipal level. Let’s organize to have current agreements dropped and prevent future ones from being signed.

A record number of people were arrest by ICE across the US in June & July. We also know that immigration arrests have been rising quickly in Lancaster. They have increased detentions without the spectacle of occupation that we saw in Minneapolis but still with devastating impacts to our communities. And one of their key strategies is using our local police departments to do their dirty work.

We’ve talked a lot about the 287(g) agreements signed by our County Sheriff and District Attorney in order to detain our neighbors on behalf of ICE. Our boroughs, townships, and cities can also make 287(g) agreements; some already have. There are currently four municipalities in Lancaster County with these agreements, and we worry more could be on the way. Additionally, we know that at least two local police departments have already received more than $350,000 from ICE in exchange for immigration arrests.

So while we keep the heat on our County Sheriff and District Attorney to drop their agreements, we also want to make sure our municipal police departments stay away from ICE. Our goal is to organize throughout the county either to have your municipality drop its current 287(g) agreement or to adopt an ordinance that prevents a future agreement from being signed.

Join us to be part of the push to make that happen.

Sign up link in comments.

08/09/2026

Support Opportunity: our friends in Mount Holly Springs are gathering for a vigil and to attend a borough council meeting tomorrow night, Monday 8/10 at 6:30pm, to oppose their local police department’s 287(g) agreement. Since that agreement was used to detain our neighbor, Chinese human rights lawyer Shaoping Wu, they are encouraging people from Lancaster County to attend if they are able.

Please join them tomorrow Monday 8/10 at 6:30pm. Sign up link below.

Are you concerned about Mt. Holly Springs, PA (MHS) being in the national news for the MHS Police-assisted ICE detention of Chinese human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping? Are you worried about MHS's reputation and the potential backlash to businesses? Join us for a vigil before the next borough council me...

08/07/2026

Lancaster County Sheriff Marc Shaffer and DA Heather Adams, take notes! If you won’t take it from us maybe you will listen to a fellow member of law enforcement who is working to rebuild broken trust: 287(g) does NOT make our communities safer!

08/03/2026

Last Wednesday, 7/29, supporters greeted Shaoping Wu during his check-in at the ICE facility in York. Learn what motivated them to be there and why we must continue to show up for our neighbors. Video courtesy of Steve Sauer.

07/31/2026

Today is a great day to donate to support our neighbor Shaoping Wu! Please donate through the link in comments.

Mr. Wu safely made it through his immigration check-in and was fitted with an ankle monitor while home on bond. We are so grateful to the elected officials who interceded on his behalf, but we also are ashamed that he has suffered injustices that he never should have faced in the first place.

As Mr. Wu continues to fight his legal battle, financial assistance can go a long way towards helping with expenses. The family is grateful for your community support. Let’s continue to live our Lancastrian Commitment to Welcome by supporting Mr. Wu and his family 💕!

07/30/2026

Did you know The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office is processing migrant children and their caregivers for ICE using 287(g)?

Today is World Day Against Trafficking Persons. In Feb 2026, we learned that a detective from the Lancaster County DA’s Office was providing data to ICE on migrant children and their families under the guise of “wellness checks”. We raised the alarm citing multiple instances of the administration attempting to illegally deport unaccompanied minors under cover of night. Now, a July 28th report is showing the devastating impact of this practice.

In addition to data collected using 287(g) programs, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has provided over 460,000 “leads” to ICE, leading to more than 12,000 arrests. These are arrests of children and their sponsors. Migrant children are now spending an average of 200 days in ORR custody, with many cases of abuse. In April, it was reported that a 3-year old girl who was separated from her mother suffered sexual abuse while in ORR custody. Child advocate groups are calling this “a new kind of family separation”.

Historically, children and their caregivers have been protected from the worst abuses of immigration enforcement. That precedent has been shattered in the past year.

According to the ACLU:

“In November 2025, DHS announced it would use state and local law enforcement participating in the 287(g) program to “conduct welfare checks” on children in the custody of sponsors who entered the country alone during the Biden administration. While DHS described this practice as a measure to protect children from abuse, it is a thinly veiled attempt to enlist state and local police in a larger agenda to re-detain children and deport their sponsors — who may include parents or other loved ones who are undocumented.”

We call on The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office to show compassion for unaccompanied minor children and stop participating in the cruel practice of their detention and separation from their families. We cannot claim to stand against human trafficking while assisting in the trafficking of minor children and their sponsors.

Read the report in the comments.

07/29/2026

Lancaster neighbors were out today with signs and songs to support local Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Shaoping Wu at his immigration check-in in York. Wu took time to thank the crowd and some supporters have moved to a separate location where he is getting fitted for an ankle monitor. We are grateful he can be where he belongs: home with his family.