This morning dozens of community members along with several elected officials held a press conference with Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition to encourage the Mayor and Police Chief to reject participation in a federal immigrant tracking program called "Secure Communities."

The program would require police officers to contact ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement which is solely responsible for detention and deportation in immigration matters) as soon as individuals were booked through a federal fingerprinting process. This program is the most recent in a series of ICE programs that make local police the contact point between immigrants and ICE agents.

In other cities, the program has led to serious concerns around selective enforcement and racial profiling, expensive re-direction of personnel resources, and an increase in detention.