A Faith-Based Network Is Helping Philly’s Immigrant Families Stay Afloat

Last fall, as his child watched, a Northwest Philly father was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after more than 20 years of living in the United States. Unlike many others detained by the agency, he was released and allowed to return home after more than a week. But the encounter with ICE took an immense psychological and financial toll on his entire household.

“[My] son would sleep downstairs waiting on me to come home, and my daughter was suffering and felt like she was going through depression,” he recalled at a Jan. 27 meeting held by the Northwest Immigration Network (N-WIN).

“Our financial [situation] was completely drained. They couldn’t pay for rent or the bills. Whatever money we had, it helped pay the bills; after that, it was pretty much hoping and praying.”

Disruptions like these, where ICE detains breadwinners and destabilizes entire households, have quickly become “a really big problem” across the city, says immigration lawyer and N-WIN founder Judith Bernstein-Baker. In response, organizers in the Northwest have centered their work on rapid, coordinated support — helping families stay housed, informed and connected when a single detention can upend decades of stability.

“Somebody will come in and say, ‘Somebody’s spouse has just been detained, and now they can’t pay the rent. What are we going to do?’” Bernstein-Baker says. “There’s people in our network who have seen a huge uptick in the need for housing [for immigrants].”

In August of 2024, she founded N-WIN in collaboration with Olney’s Sisters of Saint Joseph’s Newcomer Justice Alliance and Welcoming Home, seeking to unite Northwest Philly congregations and organizations that directly support and protect immigrants, so that they can share information and resources to amplify their work.

There’s been instances where members have formed welcoming circles and helped families “pay their rent the first few months till they got a job,” Bernstein-Baker says. Participating organizations have also helped cover the costs for immigrants to apply for work permits and reparole, as the Trump administration has increased these costs (to $500 and $1,000, respectively).

N-WIN also connects immigrants to existing organizations providing services, including employment opportunities, obtaining work permits, transitional housing, meal and rent assistance, resettlement and asylum for people fleeing persecution in their countries, and ESL training.

“We exist to let people know how to hook into other organizations, and we get education to people who’re directly involved with immigrants and refugees,” Bernstein-Baker says. “There are many great nonprofits out there doing the work, so we don’t want to duplicate what they do, but we want to know how to help.”

Since Trump returned to office and ordered ICE’s aggressive enforcement and expansion in U.S. cities, their work has “changed dramatically,” she says.

The American Immigration Council found that the number of detained individuals nationally surged nearly 70% last year.

“It’s the highest number I can remember, and I’ve been practicing immigration law for 25 years,” Bernstein-Baker says. “We have a lot to learn. This situation has changed. Before the occupation of Minnesota, we didn’t see this level of militarization.”

“Now that other people are interested and aware of the devastating impact of detention, family separation, forcible deportation, and violence against immigrants and citizens, we have to try to be a force that helps bring people together who are concerned about this,” Bernstein-Baker says.

The network started out as a group of about 15 to 20 people who were representatives of different congregations that were already working to support immigrants. Early network members came from places such as St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Mishkan Shalom Synagogue, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and The Germantown Jewish Centre. The network now includes representatives from 14 congregations.

The network meets every six weeks to exchange information and ways to access resources, speak on local and national updates, and form plans around collective action. Their last major in-person event, held in October, saw 200 attendees. They also hold occasional meetings to educate organizers based on emerging needs, including a training last fall on recent changes in SNAP eligibility for immigrants and refugees.

On Feb. 21 at 3 p.m., they will hold a know-your-rights training event at the Unitarian Society of Germantown for local immigrants and other organizers who strive to protect them. Topics will include identifying spaces ICE can and cannot legally enter, knowing what a judicial warrant looks like, and distinguishing ICE from police.

Network organizers say they have also seen a major uptick in legal immigrants and refugees beginning to lose their parole status. In March 2025, the Trump administration eliminated the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan Parole Program that allowed immigrants from these countries to live and work in the United States.

“Once that legal status disappeared, everybody was at risk. They started detaining people,” Bernstein-Baker says. “People tell me, ‘I’m a citizen, I’m afraid they’re going to take my citizenship away.’ [ICE] does these invasions to one city at a time, terrorizing people.”

Even U.S. citizens are scared to leave their homes, she says. The whole point, she argues, is to create enough fear that immigrants will self-deport. According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 2.5 million immigrants left the United States in 2025, with more than 605,000 people being deported and 1.9 million people self-deported.

While grassroots efforts to protect immigrants continue, city council members are also working to restrict the ICE’s power within Philadelphia and prohibit their ability to cooperate with city agencies, codifying its existing sanctuary policies.

Councilmember Kendra Brooks and Councilmember at-Large Rue Landau recently co-sponsored the ‘ICE Out’ package, a set of seven bills – developed along with a coalition of immigration and community advocates and modeled after legislation passed in California as well as in Reading and Allentown, Pennsylvania – to prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks, using unmarked vehicles, using city properties for operations and immigration raids without a judicial warrant, collecting data from city employees, and approaching someone with discriminatory intent.

“Fear is not public safety, trust is,” Councilmember at-Large Landau said when introducing the legislation. “Philadelphia has a responsibility to lead when the federal government abandons accountability and the rule of law, and today, with our ICE OUT legislation, we are making clear that our city will stand with immigrant communities and push ICE out of our neighborhoods.”

8th District Councilmember Cindy Bass also voiced her full support of the legislative package, saying,“Philadelphia must lead with compassion, accountability, and respect for human dignity. These bills are a necessary step to ensure our city remains a place where all residents can feel safe.”

This story was originally published by Next City and Germantown Info Hub through their Equitable Cities Reporting Fellowship. They are among the 30 news organizations powering the Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative. This article is part of a national initiative exploring how geography, policy, and local conditions influence access to opportunity. Find more stories at economicopportunitylab.com.