Montgomery County moves to reassure immigrants as fears mount over Trump’s threat of mass deportation
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Chair Neil Makhija is thinking about how the county can respond on immigration, climate.
Montgomery County is expanding its efforts to protect immigrants, regardless of status, days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
County commissioners voted Thursday to approve the creation of a new position: director of immigrant affairs. Neil Makhija, the board’s new chair, said the role is designed to ensure immigrants living in the county can feel safe and continue to contribute to the community. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, just over 11% of the county’s population is foreign-born.
The step is the first in what Makhija said would be a broader effort to respond to the Trump administration’s actions on immigration and other issues.
“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 said.
While Trump won Pennsylvania, Montgomery County remained overwhelmingly Democratic, with more than 60% of the county’s voters favoring Vice President Kamala Harris.
Montgomery County’s move comes as Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has faced increasing pressure to reassert the city’s sanctuary city status before Trump takes office.
Makhija said the county will likely wait to see what actions the administration takes before developing a firm policy on cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We have to see what they’re going to do,” he said, noting that there are several options the county can take aside from simply restricting cooperation with ICE.
Why Montco is creating a director of immigrant affairs
The county’s new immigrant affairs position was approved on a 2-1 vote along party lines during a salary board meeting. It was included in a vote that also approved funding for every other position in the county. Republican Commissioner Tom DiBello voted no, citing broad concerns with funding new positions.
In an interview, DiBello said he supported adding the immigration services director to ensure the county is serving its diverse population. But he pushed back on the idea that the position should serve as a counter to Trump immigration policies.
While DiBello said he opposes harboring undocumented immigrants, he said the county already does not ask residents their immigration status when they interact with government services.
“That’s never been an issue in Montgomery County as long as I’ve been here,” he said.
In an interview Thursday, Makhija said the director will serve as a point person in the county to advise departments on how to best protect immigrants. That will include ensuring immigrants feel safe interacting with government services regardless of their status.
Trump has said he will institute mass deportations upon taking office. Makhija said the county’s goal will be to develop policies that limit the impact fear of those deportations could have on people’s willingness to interact with the government.
“If the concern is that we’re going to have ICE at the courthouse, or we’re going to have ICE show up at a mental health clinic, people are not going to seek services,” he said.
The position will be in the county’s department of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the salary will be between $98,645 and $147,965, according to county records.
In addition to approving the director of immigrant services, Montgomery County commissioners approved six additional attorneys in the county solicitor’s office. Those attorneys, Makhija said, will help the county defend against and proactively object to Trump administration policies alongside other responsibilities.
Makhija said he intended to join other counties in climate lawsuits and anticipated a need to protect Montgomery County businesses that export to countries, such as Canada, targeted by tariffs Trump has advertised.
“I have no doubts there’s going to be overreach with this administration,” he said.
DiBello, the Republican commissioner, dismissed the suggestion that attorneys would be used to combat the Trump administration as political showmanship. Presidential administrations, he argued, had little impact on county business.
“If we’re trying to give the illusion that we’re going to be challenging the Trump administration, then it’s going to be a lot of fun in Montgomery County, because I’m not going to stand for political games,” he said.