By Tim Lambert | Editor-in-chief
“Our communities are afraid, and their lives have been changed. They’re avoiding being outside, in the parks, and barely coming out to the grocery stores, specifically lately. Life, for our communities, is no longer a quality life. This is putting everyone in danger.” — Mirna Miranda, the Pennsylvania organizing director with We Are CASA, a national group dedicated to organizing and protecting the civil rights of immigrants.
A good Monday morning to you. I will be starting the work week with you in spirit, since I have the day off today. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit in Harrisburg last night. The show was cancelled due to weather concerns.
Sept. 28 is a big day in our great state’s history. On this day in 1776, Pennsylvania was no longer a colony, but a commonwealth — thanks to the adoption of its first Constitution (there have been five in total). The document was considered quite radical for its Declaration of Rights, among other things. But, how the legislature and executive council were set up created issues that had to be resolved 14 years later with a second Constitution.
Thanks for starting your day with us. As always, we deeply appreciate you reading, sharing and supporting our work. -- Tim
A Geisinger facility in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area as seen from I-81. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
By Ian Karbal
Earlier this month, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation targeted construction workers building an addition at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Montour County. Along with local law enforcement, they stopped and arrested a number of workers on roads near the facility as the men left for the evening on Sept. 2.
While details have been difficult to verify — advocates, workers and law enforcement have told different stories, and few documents have been publicly released — the raid sent shockwaves through central Pennsylvania’s immigrant communities.
Two police chiefs in the county whose officers were involved in the operation, a spokesperson for ICE and a spokesperson for Geisinger all stressed that no arrests happened on the medical center campus itself.
But advocates warn that as word of raids near hospitals and medical centers spreads, so can fears of seeking healthcare services in immigrant communities. Medical workers too have warned that more aggressive immigration enforcement has led to immigrants delaying or refusing necessary care.
Patricia Young, a volunteer election protection service member, sits outside of a polling location at West Chester University in West Chester, to help voters on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024. (Photos by Kriston Jae Bethel for Votebeat)
By Carter Walker of Votebeat
Election Day isn’t until Nov. 3, but the 2026 election is officially underway in Pennsylvania: The first ballots are starting to hit voters’ mailboxes.
Voters around the state will weigh in on everything from control of the U.S. Congress to the commonwealth’s next governor.
What do you need to know about voting in Pennsylvania in the 2026 midterm election?
Rev. Josh Gill of Central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown joined several other local clergy on Sept. 22, 2026 at the York offices of immigration advocacy group We Are CASA to decry immigration enforcement tactics under President Donald Trump. The immigrant Gill was advocating for, Molis Augustave, was deported on Sept. 24. (Photo by Jordan Wilkie/WITF)
By Jordan Wilkie of WITF
The Department of Homeland Security is making weekly deportation flights from Louisiana to Haiti. After receiving a reprieve last week, York pastor Molis Augustave was flown out of the country Thursday, according to a community group organizing on his behalf.
Even with an additional week, Augustave was deported 20 days after he was detained. Compared to past administrations, including during President Donald Trump’s first term, that’s a fast turn-around and is part of this administration’s aggressive deportation campaign.
Augustave left a U.S. citizen wife, a 2-year-old son, and a 9-year-old stepdaughter in York. His congregation at Iglesia de Dios La Voz de Alerta is now left without one of their key religious leaders. Augustave has no criminal record and spent six years in Pennsylvania after coming to the U.S. legally in 2016, according to immigration documents shared with WITF.
“This is what happens when a government decides that due process is a privilege it can revoke at will,” said Ama Frimpong, Chief of Services and Legal Advocacy at We Are CASA.
Independent reporting on Pennsylvania state government that impacts communities statewide — free to read and republish.
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Federal immigration officers were at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
COMMENTARY
By Menika Dirkson of The Conversation
ICE ramped up its arrests of immigrants at major airports over the summer of 2026, including in Philadelphia, to help meet the Trump administration’s reported goal of apprehending 1,100 people daily.
The agency is collaborating with the Transportation Security Administration, its sister agency in the Department of Homeland Security. However, decades before TSA existed, local police were used in a similar fashion to help the military catch AWOL Vietnam War soldiers.
I’m a historian of race and policing in Philadelphia after the Civil Rights Movement and I spend a lot of time digging through the city’s archives. I recently combed through a 1967 collection of police incident reports from the 77th district, also known as the airport police, which patrols Philadelphia International Airport.
Most of the cases involved plane crashes and unruly passengers, rental car thefts, larceny of luggage and freight packages, bomb scares and drug smuggling.
But the airport police at times detained drafted soldiers who didn’t want to complete their tours of duty.
TODAY IN THE CAPITAL-STAR
New data centers in neighboring Maryland to get additional scrutiny: Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore is commissioning a state task force to examine new data center proposals and advise local jurisdictions considering the projects. The final decision on data center projects still rests with local governments.
High-risk pregnancy docs publish new standards under abortion bans: As physicians continue to navigate care for patients with complex pregnancies in states with abortion bans, a group of maternal-fetal medicine specialists has developed new guidelines to help providers navigate legal risks for themselves and medical challenges for their high-risk patients.
Latest youth behavior report offers a narrower look at teen health: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report offers a markedly different portrait of adolescent health than two years ago. It focuses on five areas — diet, physical activity, sleep, digital behavior, and mental health and suicide risk — while largely leaving out national findings on substance use, sexual behavior, violence and disparities among student groups that were prominent in previous reports.
ICYMI
Millions of dollars of waste found in push for immigration detention: Government investigators released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities.
Have you seen a Garrity ad? Shapiro leads 43-to-1 in ad buys.: Gov. Josh Shapiro’s huge fundraising lead over Republican challenger Stacy Garrity continues to be built in part by contributions from out of state, and has positioned the Democratic incumbent to spend millions trying to win control of the General Assembly for his party.
Feds unveil project to squeeze more juice through existing power lines: The program will rebuild or modernize 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploy grid-enhancing technologies over 21,000 miles, increasing capacity nationally by 23 gigawatts. Allentown-based PPL is slated to get up to $71.5 million to rebuild about 30 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.
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