Richard F. Kosich: The sanctuary county

“Sanctuary jurisdictions,” loosely defined as states or municipalities that obstruct federal immigration enforcement, seriously threaten the safety and security of the American people. What began as an effort encouraging “law-abiding” illegal aliens to report crimes or assist law enforcement without fear of deportation has mutated into a partisan scheme that protects and shelters illegal aliens, even violent criminals, from being turned over to federal immigration authorities.

And what started as a predominantly small, regionalized movement has since been aggrandized by open-border zealots into a widespread trend that undermines national security and federal immigration laws, along with endangering the lives of ordinary American citizens, legal immigrants, and even illegal aliens themselves.

Locally, Montgomery County Commissioners Chair Neil K. Makhija and Vice Chair Jamila H. Winder have taken our immigration policies from bad to worse to “fully sanctified,” which is largely responsible for why Montgomery County originally appeared on the Department of Homeland Security’s (now deleted) list of sanctuary jurisdictions targeted by the Trump Administration. These same immigration policies under Makhija and Winder’s leadership have been trending in the wrong direction for some time, but have now hit rock bottom.     

Not content with refusing to sign a commonsense 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the dynamic Democratic duo of Makhija and Winder has now, incredulously: 

1. Proclaimed that officials at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) will no longer honor ICE detainers unless they are accompanied by a judicial warrant; and, 
2.  Officially barred Montgomery County employees from providing information to ICE unless a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena is presented, and even then only if so instructed by their immediate supervisor.

Both myopic decisions appear to be a cowardly capitulation to certain local activist “immigration groups,” and come mere days after the Inquirer first reported on the case of Andrea Lozano-Alanis, a 31-year-old illegal immigrant who was jailed in Montgomery County after an incident in which she allegedly rammed her car into that of a romantic partner outside Truist Bank in East Norriton. The charges against her included child endangerment because her child was inside her car; she was also accused of recklessly endangering another person, careless and reckless driving, and driving without a license.  All charges have since been mysteriously dropped without explanation — a story unto itself.

Local pro-illegal immigrant activists were nevertheless incensed that Lozano-Alanis was kept detained even after her bail had been posted on the then underlying criminal charges.  She was subsequently handed over to ICE agents via the county’s longstanding policy of honoring ICE detainer requests to hold immigrants for an additional four hours post-bail, allowing time for federal agents to take her into custody in a safe, controlled environment, rather than risking the uncertainty of making a public arrest. Given her alleged “reckless driving” history, this was probably the safest course of action.

Democratic Commissioners Neil Makhija and Jamila Winder, who had been silent on Lozano-Alanis’s arrest, immediately faced intense pressure from the broken borders lobby to change their ICE detainer policy so that people like Lozano-Alanis might escape ICE custody prospectively. Henceforth, the MCCF will only hold people for up to 24 hours when they receive an ICE detainer coupled with a judicial warrant that has been approved and signed by a judge.

Makhija and Winder then issued a statement on Friday, June 13 defending their decision: “The MCCF’s policy to require a judicial warrant ensures that all outside agencies — whether the federal government, states, or neighboring counties — have done their due diligence and follow the rule of law.”

In response to the statement, a coalition of local immigration groups said they are “cautiously hopeful that this will mark the end of ICE detainers in Montgomery County.”  But by ignoring ICE detainer requests, Montgomery County officials are deliberately helping undermine our nation’s immigration laws, as outlandish as that may sound, in favor of potentially allowing criminal aliens wanted on serious federal charges to go free.

“Failing to honor immigration detainers jeopardizes public safety and wastes taxpayer funding,” said Philadelphia ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations acting Field Office Director Brian McShane. “Instead of allowing the safe transfer of the criminal alien directly from local to federal law enforcement custody within the confines of a secure facility… the county simply releases the criminal alien to the street hoping ICE officials are there to rearrest the alien before they can evade ICE and potentially commit additional crimes.”

The same coalition of pro-illegal immigrant groups mentioned above are also “big mad” that Montgomery County officials have partnered with federal agents in the past to help enforce our immigration laws when, they claim, no law requires them to do so. What these same immigrant “rights” groups fail to comprehend, however, is that there’s no law stating Montgomery County officials can’t cooperate either — that is, until now.  

Ricky Palladino, an immigration attorney who has been practicing in the Philadelphia region, said he’s confused about the sudden change in policy, as he’s seen Philadelphia’s suburban collar counties honor ICE detainers previously without any issues.

“I’ve seen all of the collar counties, every single one of them, honor detainers,” Palladino was quoted as telling the Inquirer. “I have trouble understanding how they couldn’t. It’s clearly in the federal regulations. They get the notification from one law enforcement agency to another, and they typically honor it.”

That’s because federal policy was clearly written by individuals who envisioned state and local authorities cooperating with each other (and certainly not acting antagonistically) in enforcing federal immigration laws, just like they would for any other law. 

Tom DiBello, the lone Republican among the three-member Montgomery County Commissioners, told the Inquirer that he was also disappointed by the decision. According to DiBello the county folded to the complaints of immigration activists and created a fresh roadblock for federal authorities. “We’re putting that above all the safety of our communities,” he said.  

It’s perplexing, then, why Commissioners Makhija and Winder are doubling down on their reckless, obstructionist policies instead of allowing cooperation between local officials and ICE to rid potential criminal illegal aliens from our streets.  

For example, the county will now also require a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena before providing information on any person to federal ICE enforcement agents. The policy, effective immediately, “reemphasizes our commitment to not collect or ask for any information related to immigration status unless required by state or federal law,” said the commissioners in a statement. “County employees are not deputized federal immigration agents,” and “it is not the responsibility of the county or its employees to enforce federal immigration law.”

While the latter part of the above statement is generally true, Makhija, an attorney by trade, should appreciate that the judicial subpoena requirement, in particular, actually violates 8 U.S.C. § 1373, which prohibits state and local governments from restricting the sharing of immigration information with federal immigration authorities. It also violates 8 U.S.C. § 1324, which prohibits the concealing, harboring or shielding from detection of illegal aliens; and it breaches 18 U.S.C. § 1501 et seq., which criminalizes the obstruction of justice.

Additionally, under 8 U.S.C. § 1357, no formal agreement is required for any state or local employee to communicate with federal immigration officials regarding the immigration status of any individual or to otherwise cooperate in the “identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.” 

Winder, for her part, has called recent ICE arrests in Norristown “disconcerting and saddening,” presumably because it separates families — the standard liberal’s emotional justification for why immigration laws shouldn’t be enforced. It’s unclear, however, if she feels the same way when other federal law enforcement agencies (e.g. ATF, FBI, DEA etc.) arrest wanted criminals who happen to have families and children. Should these agencies also stop pursuing such criminals because it’s “disconcerting and saddening,” or does that only apply to ICE arrests?      

Truthfully speaking, sanctuary policies like those recently instated in Montgomery County are simple “virtue signaling” by far-left state and local government officials who are consecrating their anti-Trump bona fides by emphasizing their opposition to the President’s pro-enforcement rhetoric and policies. 

“In Montgomery County… we did not vote for what’s going to happen at the national level and there are people who have serious concerns,” Makhija proclaimed upon voting for the creation of the county’s new Director of Immigrant Affairs position in January of 2025.  

This was just the first step in what Makhija then said would be a broader effort in resisting the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, while acknowledging there were several additional options the county could take aside from simply restricting cooperation with ICE by mandating judicial warrants.  

The reality is, however, that local municipalities like Montgomery County are mandating judicial warrants (above what is required in federal law) because they want to obstruct immigration enforcement, overwhelm the judicial system, and turn these municipalities into private sanctuaries where federal immigration laws don’t apply, all for politically partisan reasons.  

But if we only enforce laws selectively — depending on who is involved or what cause du jour they claim to support — we undermine the very foundation of our legal system. We cannot look the other way when laws are broken, simply because the perpetrators are aligned with certain council members’ political proclivities. 

Those that have already been victimized by criminal illegal aliens — who benefited from sanctuary policies — have a legitimate grievance to file, along with outraged, law-abiding Americans who simply want their nation’s immigration laws enforced. They know that selective enforcement of the law is not justice — it is favoritism. We either enforce the laws equally, or we admit we are no longer governed by law.   

Anyone therefore siding with equality under the law should make their voices heard by participating in the next Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting and using their allotted three minutes to speak their peace. After all, the pressure applied at recent commissioners meetings was enough for Makhija and Winder to crumble, since no counter-voices were present to advocate for public safety and the rule of law.   

It’s also a rare golden opportunity to hold those responsible for the recent disastrous immigration policy changes in Montgomery County to account. Otherwise, they will only be emboldened to act in an even more reckless and irresponsible manner in the future.  

Count on it. 

Richard F. Kosich is Chair of the Conshohocken Borough Republican Committee (CBRC). Opinions are his own.