A young activist leads a chant during a Montco Stands with Immigrants rally on June 7, 2025 at the intersection of West Marshall and George streets in Norristown. (Rachel Ravina – MediaNews Group).
The four corners of West Marshall and George streets were packed with people Saturday afternoon who made known their opposition to a recent escalation of immigration enforcement activity in the municipality.
At least 100 people braved the drizzle of the dreary weekend, holding signs, flags and banners in solidarity with the Montco Stands with Immigrants rally.
“I’m here to stand with our immigrant neighbors and friends who are the backbone of our communities and provide a huge economic boom to our businesses, and deserve an opportunity to live without fear,” said Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, of Abington.
The demonstration came amid an uptick in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions over the past week as part of directives issued by President Donald Trump since the start of his second term.
Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairman Neil Makhija said Thursday that “reportedly 20 individuals … were detained or taken somewhere,” and county officials “have almost no information on this by ICE” as recent events have people on edge.
“We are currently governed at the federal level by an administration that is using the tactics of tyranny and fascism to scare people, and they’ve decided to make immigrants the scapegoats of everything wrong in our country. We know that’s not true, and it is wonderful to see so many allies come out in support of a community that really is important to us,” Wechterman said.
Stephanie Vincent, lead organizer with Community for Change Montgomery County, agreed.
“The Latino community in Norristown is terrified right now. They’re in their houses, they’re on alert, the parents are talking about how the kids are scared. Even kids that are American are scared, scared for their parents, and as allies we’ve got to step up now,” Vincent said.
Collaborative Effort
Hosted in collaboration with Community for Change, Unides Para Servir and Voces Norristown Radio, an event flyer stated that “ICE raids targeting our neighbors and their families have started in our community and we’re not staying silent.” The demonstration was more “allied focused,” Vincent said, discouraging undocumented immigrants from attending due to heightened concerns.
“It’s important for the immigrant community to know that we support them, but also give people the information about how they can support, how they can resist, how they can help people that have been affected,” Vincent said.
Music played in English and Spanish, people clapped and participated in a variety of chants that included “no hate, no fear; immigrants are welcome here,” and “no hate, no hate; no ICE in our state.”
Show of Support
A steady stream of cars traveling along Marshall Street honked their horns, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
“I need to support my neighbors. I need to support my community. It’s not OK what’s happening, and they need to know that their community is behind them and that they’re not alone, because being lonely is a terrible place to be,” said Norristown Municipal Councilwoman Jasmine Griffen.
Local religious leaders pointed to the ramifications of immigration enforcement authorities targeting places such as churches and schools.
“People should never be afraid to worship,” said First Presbyterian Church at Norristown pastor Rev. Peter Martin.
Wechterman agreed. As a person of faith, she told The Times Herald that “it says ‘welcome the stranger’ 36 times in the Hebrew bible, and we we’re told that because we were strangers in the land, we should welcome all strangers.”
“Every single person here has an ancestor who was a stranger here. Our faith tells us what to do, and that’s really important to me,” Wechterman said.
Effect onLocal Business
Advocates noted the Marshall Street commercial sector has been impacted by the federal immigration crackdowns. Organizers held a “buy-in” event to support Latino-owned businesses back in February in an area state Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, D-17th Dist., described as “a backbone for us.”
“We will not stop doing everything we can to protect this community and protect our loved ones,” Cappelletti said. “Because what’s happening now with the federal government and ICE is absolutely unconscionable, illegal and unconstitutional.”
Denisse Agurto, executive director of the Norristown-based Unides Para Servir, told The Times Herald that “people are disappearing” as she disclosed that one of the organization’s volunteers was “taken this morning.”
Advocates and community members have raised concerns about the increased activities of immigration authorities in and around Norristown and whether agents are following established protocol, as several people have claimed agents are not producing judicial warrants when detaining residents.
“We can’t wait because what’s happening is people are literally being stalked, hunted and kidnapped and taken from their families for minor criminal cases with no judicial warrants being used,” Vincent said.
The claims could not be independently verified Saturday.
One resident who took the mic did not identify himself on Saturday, saying he had a tense encounter with ICE agents detaining a man, and he posted a video of it to social media.
“Everything I said to those ICE agents last week, I meant it. You’re doing the devil’s work,” he said.
‘Not what America is’
An attendee of the Norristown protest recalled seeing immigration-related events on television, but it’s the “first time” he’s witnessed it firsthand.
“Sometimes we cry when we watch what’s going on. We never expect that kind of stuff. We’re supposed to be united, not divided,” he said, adding “I’m living here for almost 35 years. I never see this kind of stuff. It’s sad.”
“It is chilling. If we don’t stand up now, no one’s going to stand up for us later,” said AnnMarie Giacco, of Conshohocken.
“I think we need to bring awareness, we need to educate people and support the immigrant community,” Giacco said, adding that “I can’t imagine the fear, the terror and then the loneliness that they’re feeling.”
“It’s absolutely disgusting. This is not what America is and this is not what America should be,” said Norristown resident Elizabeth Hill.
“The current administration is targeting people … just because they want a better life for themselves. That’s why everyone came here, either recently, or long ago,” said Whitpain Township resident Pearl Flamberg.
Norristown, the county seat, has an estimated 35,769 residents with 32.9% of the population identifying as Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
The Norristown Area School District has 7,598 students from Norristown, as well as East and West Norriton townships for the 2024-25 academic year. Of those, school district data lists 52.8 percent as Hispanic.
“Our kids are fearful. They are struggling day in and day out and it’s really impacting their mental health,” said Norristown Area School Board President Christopher Jaramillo.
Residents Want Action
Municipal government and education officials have shared their immigration-related policies in recent months as people repeatedly urged Montgomery County commissioners to enact stringent legislation protecting undocumented individuals in the form of a “Welcome Act” policy.
Makhija and Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairwoman Jamila Winder previously stated they would “not sign a 287(g) agreement,” citing “constitutional principle, public safety and fiscal responsibility” in an op-ed published last month. Solicitor Benjamin Field previously also said elected officials can’t “make rules for all the municipalities within our county” due to its “2A County” status.
“I know oftentimes advocates want to rally around model policies, and we are going to look at the model, but we don’t just adopt models. We’re going to do what’s best for Montgomery County,” Makhija said during Thursday’s Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Residents underscored they would not back down and continue requesting concrete measures be put in place countywide.
“We wanted people to come out to show support, to show … Montgomery County, to show our commissioners that this is important to us, and it matters, and to get people signed up to get involved with helping the response,” Vincent said.
