Philadelphia, PA — August 14, 2025 — Today, State Senators Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia County) and Amanda Cappelletti (D–Delaware and Montgomery Counties) joined advocates, community leaders, labor partners, and local officials outside of ICE’s Philadelphia Field Office to highlight the urgent need for their legislation, No Secret Police: Unmask ICE.
The proposed legislation by Cappelletti and Saval would prohibit law enforcement officers from using masks to deliberately disguise their identities during the normal course of their duties, creating appropriate standards for departments and agencies operating within Pennsylvania.
“Wherever we live, wherever we’re from, all of us have rights to dignity, to safety, and to due process,” said Saval. “To have heavily armed, masked, unidentifiable individuals roaming our public spaces, work sites, and residential blocks—kidnapping people off the streets and disappearing our neighbors—terrorizes our communities and violates these basic, vital rights. Passage of the No Secret Police legislation would position Pennsylvania as a leader in protecting the safety and wellbeing of its communities. We need this effort across the country.”
“Masked policing erodes public trust and opens the door for impersonation and abuse,” said Cappelletti. “Many constituents have voiced serious concerns to my office about ICE’s tactics and the misuse of public resources since January, and I am proud to answer their call to action by partnering with Senator Saval to introduce legislation that ensures greater transparency in law enforcement and protects our communities.”
Currently, no federal rules or laws prohibit mask-wearing by law enforcement personnel. In the absence of federal guidance, accountability for law enforcement falls to individual states. Under President Trump, Pennsylvania has experienced a surge in deportations, with many reports of people abducted by unidentified, masked officers, taken without notice and detained without immediate access to their families or lawyers.
Workplaces have been frequent targets of ICE raids, and Trump’s immigration policies could cost Pennsylvania as many as 115,000 jobs.
At today’s event, Adriana George, the We Dream in Black Organizer for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Daniel P. Bauder, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, spoke about the harms of these tactics to workers.
“The terror instilled by raids that we see on TV and social media and in our neighborhoods, and masked agents kidnapping people from the street mean that workers do not stand up for their rights or report abuse in the workplace,” said George. “It also emboldens abusive employers to use the threat of ICE action to exploit terrorized immigrant workers.”
“In no world should it be okay for masked individuals to violently rip people off the streets and tear families apart. These attacks are atrocious, cowardly, and go against everything the labor movement values and believes,” said Bauder. “Harrisburg needs to do everything it can to Trump-proof Pennsylvania—which is why Philadelphia labor is calling on our leaders in Harrisburg to protect our neighbors, preserve their dignity, and increase safety and accountability by ensuring that masked law enforcement cannot rip folks off the streets and away from their families.”
Anuj Gupta, President and CEO of the Welcoming Center, an organization focused on building economic opportunity and agency for immigrants of all education and skill levels, spoke of how action from the state would help foster safety and trust.
“At The Welcoming Center, we believe every person deserves to live without fear of intimidation or deception from those in positions of power,” said Gupta. “The No Secret Police legislation is a vital step toward ensuring transparency, accountability, and dignity for all Pennsylvanians.”
Immigrant advocacy organizations have been on the frontlines of community protection, supporting neighborhoods that have been terrorized and people who have been detained.
Erika Guadalupe Nuñez, Executive Director of Juntos, and Vivian Chang, Executive Director of Asian Americans United, spoke at today’s event about how ICE’s tactics have sown fear and confusion.
“Masked agents are indicative of a rotten system that cannot be reformed, and as long as ICE continues to exist, we can expect continued human rights violations and fascist actions,” said Nuñez. “We celebrate this legislation as a first step toward reining in ICE and will continue organizing until the day this rogue agency is fully abolished.”
“ICE is making billions of dollars from kidnapping and caging people, all while hiding their identities,” said Chang. “If leaders want to promote ‘law and order,’ they need to support this legislation and hold ICE and law enforcement accountable.”
In addition to Trump’s policies being dangerous, they are also deeply unpopular.
Last month, a record-setting 79% of Americans reported that they felt immigration is good for the United States. In addition, most Americans indicated that they wanted to see their undocumented neighbors given a pathway to legal citizenship. And nearly two-thirds of Americans expressed their disapproval of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Companion legislation to Cappelletti and Saval’s bill has been announced in the Pennsylvania State House, with State Rep. Paul Friel (D–Chester County) as the prime sponsor and State Reps. Joseph Hohenstein (D–Philadelphia County), Rick Krajewski (D–Philadelphia County), Chris Pielli (D–Chester County), Abigail Salisbury (D–Allegheny County), Greg Scott (D–Montgomery County), Ben Waxman (D–Philadelphia County), and Joe Webster (D–Montgomery County) as prime co-sponsors.
Krajewski closed today’s event by speaking on the importance of the bill in upholding public safety.
“As our fascist president directs anonymous officers to detain our neighbors in unmarked cars, we have no other choice but to loudly and clearly speak out,” said Krajewski. “I’m proud to sponsor legislation in the House banning masks for law enforcement and am committed to fighting for real safety and accountability for all PA families and communities.”
The full recording of today’s press conference is available here.