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ICE raid at North Philly car wash leads to 7 arrests

About 25 people protested outside ICE headquarters after the raid on Complete Autowash Philly in Juniata Park.

Peter Pedemonti, with New Sanctuary Movement, speaks at a rally Tuesday outside ICE headquarters in Center City.
Peter Pedemonti, with New Sanctuary Movement, speaks at a rally Tuesday outside ICE headquarters in Center City.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer

ICE arrested seven migrants during a Tuesday morning raid on a North Philadelphia car wash, according to leaders of advocacy groups who said they were in touch with the men’s families.

About 25 pastors, activists, and city residents converged in protest Tuesday afternoon outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Center City, as word spread of the action at Complete Autowash Philly, a longtime business in the Juniata Park neighborhood.

According to New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, most if not all of the men who were arrested had been in the United States for years. One person to whom the group has lent legal support has been in the country since 1999 and was on track to receive lawful permanent residency, what is known as a green card, group leaders said.

The Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia has been in touch with the men’s families, according to the New Sanctuary Movement. Efforts to contact the consulate were unsuccessful Tuesday evening.

”People who don’t have the correct documentation do not deserve to be picked up at work or in their houses and thrown into a detention center,” Rabbi Linda Holtzman of Tikkun Olam at Chavurah told the group outside ICE headquarters. “They do not deserve to have their lives torn apart, their families torn apart.”

Philadelphia ICE officials said they could provide no information. The agency’s media office in Washington did not reply to a request for information.

The men’s whereabouts could not be immediately determined Tuesday. Usually, those taken into custody are held at one of the three Pennsylvania detention centers, in Pike, Clinton, and Clearfield Counties, from where they may be deported.

The car wash, located on East Hunting Park Avenue, is normally open all day, people in neighboring businesses said. But it was shuttered Tuesday afternoon, hours after the raid took place.

Efforts to contact the car-wash owner for comment were unsuccessful.

The wash features graffiti art that includes the flags of Mexico, South Korea, and the Dominican Republic on its exterior.

Workers at nearby companies said they did not see the actual raid, which appeared to have concluded by 9 a.m., before many of the other businesses opened. Still, they remarked on how unusual it was for the wash to be closed — workers there typically are on the job seven days a week.

”Where is the mayor? Where is City Council? Where’s the statement? Where’s the press conference?” the Rev. Hannah Capaldi with the Unitarian Society at Germantown said outside ICE, as people expressed discontent that the administration of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker had not quickly acknowledged the arrests.

Parker has been criticized for not vocally affirming Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city, a place that limit its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

City Solicitor Renee Garcia said after the arrests, “The city’s 2016 executive order on detainers remains in place, and it has not been violated.”

That order dealt with migrants in city custody, directing that those due to be released would not be held solely on the basis of an ICE-issued detainer, not unless that paperwork was accompanied by a signed judicial warrant.

The protesters outside ICE pledged to resist the stepped-up enforcement of President Donald Trump’s administration, including its plan to deport millions of undocumented people.

”I think that people need to show up, even if it’s a little inconvenient for them to take time out of their day,” said Philadelphia resident Ray Coyne, 30. “This is the beginning of this administration. It’s only going to keep happening.”