Montgomery County Correctional Facility amends ICE detainer policy

In the midst of local uproar, the Montgomery County Correctional Facility has amended its policies to require judicial warrants when collaborating with federal immigration authorities.

Warden Sean McGee shared the policy revision in his report during Thursday’s Montgomery County Board of Prison Inspectors meeting. He noted that correctional facility representatives would no longer adhere to previously established guidelines to hold individuals without judicial warrants on a four-hour “detainer” at the request of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement agents.

“Part of that process is to request or require a judicial warrant for immigration control, which would expand the pick-up time with that warrant to 24 hours,” McGee said.

Stressing that public safety remains paramount, McGee underscored in his report “the fact that we are requiring warrants from any other jurisdiction when they’re requesting to lodge a detainer against any individual in the building, and this will … make us more consistent across the board with that.”

Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairman Neil Makhija and Vice Chairwoman Jamila Winder issued a joint statement Friday afternoon, stating “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.”

Mounting Criticism

As escalating federal immigration actions continue through President Donald Trump’s directives to deport thousands of immigrants, Montgomery County received swift criticism from advocates and area residents during the past week concerning detentions at the correctional facility, calling for elected officials to protect undocumented individuals by adopting a Welcoming County Act policy.

“This act would limit the communication between the police and ICE,” Natalia Naranjo, a volunteer with Unides Para Servir Norristown, said earlier this week. “What we’ve seen the last few weeks is that when people are detained in the county for criminal charges, that information is given to ICE agents, and they then can put a four-hour detainer on people.”

Advocates expressed outrage after a 31-year-old woman was recently taken into ICE custody at the correctional facility despite having posted bail. The woman, Andrea Lozano-Alanis, of Norristown, had been arrested by East Norriton Township police on June 3 and charged with careless driving, reckless driving, driving without a license, recklessly endangering another person, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court documents. Bai of $77 was posted on Friday, June 6, according to reports.

Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition Political Director Julio Rodriguez was among roughly 30 people who were stationed outside the gate entrance in Eagleville when they were told Lozano-Alanis was transferred into ICE custody after 11:30 p.m. on June 6, according to a Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition statement.

“Had she been released to us when bail was paid she wouldn’t be in ICE custody right now. Had they passed the Welcoming County policy when we first asked them to in February, she wouldn’t be in ICE custody right now,” Leo Fernandez, a representative of Unides Para Servir Norristown, said in a June 7 statement issued by the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition.

Montgomery County Communications Director Megan Alt told MediaNews Group on Thursday ahead of the correctional facility’s policy change that “we are aware of the situation involving an individual who was arrested, charged with a felony, and held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

“While we cannot comment on specific details of an individual case, MCCF officials had followed the policies that have been in place since 2014 regarding custody procedures when an individual has a detainer lodged against them by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” her statement continued.

Documents obtained by MediaNews Group stipulated that “MCCF will not accept an individual being brought into the facility solely on an INS/DHS detainer,” but “if an individual satisfies his/her bail requirements on underlying Montgomery County criminal charges, INS/DHS will be notified that they have four hours to pick up the person from MCCF, otherwise the person will be released.”

Ranked High for Detainers

An ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law report published in October 2024 revealed that out of a list of nearly 50 “local jails, prisons and police departments holding people on ICE detainers,” the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, Allegheny County Jail and Pennsylvania State Police were ranked highest with 12 cases identified.

After the policy change this week, advocates were encouraged to learn about it in a joint statement released by the CAIR Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, the Movement for Black and Brown Lives in Montgomery County, Unides Para Servir Norristown, and Woori Center.

“We are still awaiting a final policy, which is currently being written, to evaluate that adjustments to the protocol are truly aligned with the announcement. 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 statement reads in part.

“While this is a good first step, we need the Welcoming policy as a companion,” Rodriguez told MediaNews Group late Friday afternoon.

“Removing the four-hour hold is a good step forward because … immigration is not a criminal matter, it’s a civil one,” Rodriguez said.

Immigration remains a hot topic locally as more than 100 people gathered in Norristown last weekend to protest against the recent escalation of enforcement activity in and around the municipality.

Advocates estimated some 25 individuals have been detained by federal immigration officials; family members of detainees called for their release in a Wednesday evening press conference.

‘Words Without Action’

While Makhija and Winder penned an op-ed last month vowing not to deputize local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration enforcement actions, they have not granted the request of more than a dozen people who’ve returned to meeting after meeting urging county commissioners to pass legislation.

“Those are just words. Words without action don’t mean anything,” Rodriguez said.

County commissioners have hired former ACLAMO CEO and Executive Director Nelly Jiménez-Arévalo to serve in the county’s newly created position of director of immigrant affairs. Jiménez-Arévalo assumed responsibilities related to immigration through advocacy, resource coordination and policy development for immigrants, refugees, and those new to the county.

The Municipality of Norristown and Norristown Area School District have shared their immigration-related policies in recent months. Makhija said during a May 15 board meeting that “the county is going to be working on a number of policies,” which Makhija said are expected to involve further brainstorming, counsel and dialogue with county agency department heads.

However, advocates have yet to see any concrete plan and criticized the time it’s taking.

When asked about the county commissioners’ response to the public in a phone interview ahead of the Friday afternoon correctional facility announcement, Rodriguez said, “I think there hasn’t been a response to be quite honest because they say they’re working on it without providing a timeline. We’ve been talking about this since February, it’s going on now four months, going on five. I worry, will more people have to get detained for them to act?”