Hundreds of Pittsburghers gathered at the City-County building and marched through Downtown on Friday for a protest against ICE.
Anti-ICE protests have erupted across the country as a result of ICE’s presence in Minneapolis and a third fatal ICE shooting in the last six weeks. Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti was shot multiple times after filming ICE operations. And Renee Good and Keith Porter preceded him, also killed by ICE agents.
In recent weeks, ICE activity has increased in and around Pittsburgh. Late last week, an Oakmont resident was detained before he could drive his daughter to school.
Point Park doubled down on its commitment to cooperate with ICE, as long as they present a judicial warrant, after first making their stance clear to The Globe in March 2025.
Lou Corsaro, a university spokesperson, said in an email: “Point Park University will cooperate with all local, state and federal authorities with regard to any law enforcement action on campus.”
“To access private areas of campus,” he said, “ICE officers would have to present a judicial warrant.”
Private areas of campus refer to all academic buildings, Bison Bites and Brew, Village Park, dorms and campus apartments.
“We would encourage students, faculty and staff to immediately notify Point Park police if they see any federal law enforcement on university property so that police and administration officials can appropriately respond,” Corsaro said.
Point Park police said previously they will not aid in ICE operations and will not grant ICE access to private university property without a judicial warrant.
Corsaro did not comment on if the university would aid in or impede ICE activity on public property.
“The school has a very large international student community,” said SGA Parliamentarian Sienna Wraith. “I think there is more the school could be doing to support their international student body.”
Wraith said she thinks the school should clarify if they will recognize administrative warrants, which ICE agents have been presenting in place of judicial warrants.
Vice President Madigan Balfe echoed this sentiment, and expressed interest in refining the school’s policy around ICE.
“ICE should not be anywhere near this campus,” Balfe said. “Because they are terrorists.”
While there are no credible reports of ICE on campus, some students have expressed concern after seeing Industrial Commercial Elevator vans downtown. The elevator company has been servicing the Pittsburgh area for three generations, and said they have no plans to rebrand.
“If you read the logo you should definitely make the assumption that it is an elevator company and nothing besides an elevator company,” Steve Gielarowski, a long time Industrial Commercial Elevator employee, said.
Frontline Dignity, a volunteer-run nonprofit, is a rapid response initiative that trains volunteers how to witness, document, accompany and respond safely to ICE activity. They have a hotline phone number available on their website that can be called at any time.
“We work to build capacity to respond lawfully and effectively to immigration enforcement operations that brutalize immigrant communities,” Jamie Martinez, founder and executive director at Frontline Dignity, told The Globe.
Martinez said, during an ICE encounter, volunteers are trained to record the situation and obtain as much information about the detainee as possible so they can be located after being taken into ICE custody.
According to Martinez, ICE are often present at the courthouse Downtown. Martinez said agents can appear with or without face coverings, in plain clothes or camo, and a vest or badge that says police, federal agent, ICE, HSI, DEA, ATF or FBI. Additionally, they may or may not be armed.
Martinez said they travel in black, grey, silver and white SUVs, pick-up trucks and sedans, often domestic brands such as Ford, Dodge and Jeep.
“Watching injustice unfold in front of you is heartbreaking and tragic,” Martinez said. “We have a responsibility to let all of our neighbors know that this is happening in our communities.”
Frontline Dignity signs could be seen peppering the crowd at the protest on Friday. Amongst them were many signs displaying anti-ICE sentiments such as “ICE out” and “no one is illegal on stolen land.”
Maragold Cameron, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, was one of the speakers at the protest and helped hold a banner during the march.
“I am speaking to the unity of all of these different struggles that people are fighting for right now,” Cameron said. “What we need is to all come together and recognize our common enemy, the monopoly capitalist class, and build a strategic alliance in order to overthrow their rotten system.”
Another speaker at the protest and member of Unite Armstrong, an initiative that has brought people of different political ideologies in Armstrong, Cambria, Butler, Indiana and Westmorland counties together, Sally Simpson, said she works closely with Frontline Dignity and has been taking Spanish lessons through them.
The march started on Grant Street and quickly progressed down Smithfield, where many people stood on the sidewalk to cheer on the protesters.
Cameron Bell said he stopped in the middle of waiting on a customer when he saw the march go by.
“All people are my people,” Bell said. “And I truly believe in all solidarity to anybody that believes in a message even similar.”
The march circled back to the City Council building and dispersed shortly after.
