Residents, activists and a county council member are calling on leaders in Springdale to overturn an agreement between borough police and federal immigration enforcement that led to the arrest of a local man last month.
As snow fell, about 20 protesters gathered outside the Springdale Borough Building Tuesday night, and continued their calls for change inside council chambers during a public meeting that followed.
“Every single municipality, every single borough, every single township needs to take a stance because this is the moral issue of our time,” Jaime Martinez, executive director of Frontline Dignity, told the chilly crowd.
Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, Martinez added, and “that’s enough for us to drive through a snow flurry to get here and advocate for the ending of a 287(g) agreement.”
Slideshow: People gather for a protest held by Indivisible Allegheny Valley and Indivisible Pittsburgh against Springdale Borough’s 287(g) agreement with ICE ahead of the council meeting on March 17, at the Springdale Borough Building. (Photos by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
The borough is one of two municipalities in Allegheny County that has a formalized agreement of cooperation with the office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Such agreements, dubbed 287(g)s, can extend material incentives to participating agencies.
Last month, Randy Cordova Flores was arrested by Springdale police for a traffic violation and immediately handed over to ICE. He has been detained in the Moshannon Valley Processing Center since Feb. 10.
“This separation from our dear friend Randy has broken us,” said family friend Robin Sarno during the protest.
Springdale by the numbers
- Square miles: 0.9
- Population: 3,319
- Percent white: 97% (vs. 76% in county)
- Median household income: $65,893 (vs. $78,548 in county)
- Poverty rate: 3.9% (vs. 11.5% in county)
- Foreign-born population: 1.7% (vs. 6.6% in county)
- Voted for Donald Trump in 2024: 52.6% (vs 39.2% in county)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024, analyzed by Census Reporter.
A protest broke out the following weekend, ending with punches thrown. Days later, residents again voiced concerns to council during the Feb. 17 meeting.
Opposition to the policy has persisted. Indivisible Allegheny Valley, a newly formed activist group, has created a petition, which its leader Judah Marroquin said has racked up more than 200 supporters.
Council members did not respond to any of the public comment about the agreement. Multiple officials on council and the police chief declined to comment when approached after the meeting.
The 287(g) agreement was inked outside of a public meeting, which has frustrated some residents and led to concern that it could violate the state’s open meetings law.
Daniel Rosenmund accused the borough of acting illegally, and said residents like him only found out because of journalist reports long after the agreement was inked.
“Where is our representation when we find out about an agreement on a Friday evening six weeks after it was signed?”
Others said the borough has resisted transparency even since it was made public.
“We all have questions about this 287(g) agreement, and we have no way of getting answers,” said Kaitlin Mueller. “We would like some answers from you … because the rumor mill is out of control.”
Borough Solicitor Craig Alexander has defended the agreement, saying Pennsylvania statute enshrines the right of local departments to assist federal law enforcement.
As the region has felt the effects of President Donald Trump’s immigration ramp-up, attention has turned on how local governments and school districts are responding.
Across the river in Oakmont, council inked a policy that prohibits its police department from cooperating with ICE. Last week, school board members at the Allegheny Valley District chose not to adopt a “Welcoming Schools” policy proposed by one member.
Allegheny County Council last week voted to prohibit all of its employees, including the vast Department of Human Services, from cooperating with federal immigration agents. The Pittsburgh Republican Committee on Tuesday announced the filing of a complaint against the county solicitor with the state Disciplinary Board, alleging that the ordinance violates the principle of preemption under which federal law overrides local law.
One of the bill’s cheerleaders, Councilor Bethany Hallam joined the protesters outside Springdale on Tuesday.
“We have communities all around here where cops are doing ICE’s job for them, where our neighbors are being kidnapped off the street,” Hallam said. “All around this county and every corner, no community is exempt from it … The only way that we do something about it is to put pressure everywhere.”
Timeline: Springdale’s winter of ICE
Nov. 6: Springdale Borough and ICE ink a 287(g) agreement, deputizing the municipality’s police to enforce immigration laws in a “task force model.”
December: Springdale officials indicate they did not know about, or vote on, the agreement with ICE.
Dec. 17: Faced with resident questions, borough officials stand by the 287(g) agreement.
Feb. 10: Springdale police pull over Randy Cordova Flores for failing to use a turn signal, according to his family members. He was not previously charged with a state or federal crime. ICE agents pick him up at the borough police station and take him into custody. That night Allegheny Valley School Board member Amy Sarno floats a policy that would assert that the district’s grounds are “Safe Zones” where staff would not cooperate with ICE.
Feb. 13: An ICE spokesperson writes in response to questions that Cordova Flores entered the country unlawfully in 2023 and was freed under the now-defunct “catch-and-release” program for asylum seekers. He says Cordova Flores missed an immigration proceeding and then committed a traffic violation.
Feb. 14: A protest in Springdale against ICE activity draws a crowd and becomes briefly contentious when a man who is passing through argues with attendees and throws punches.
Feb. 17: Citizens at a Springdale council meeting speak out against the borough’s cooperation with ICE, but officials say little in response and take no action.
March 10: The Allegheny Valley School Board votes down the “Safe Zones” proposal.
Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at jamie@publicsource.org.
Rich Lord contributed.
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