Pittsburgh mayor refuses to cooperate with ICE

Police said surveillance video showed Rivera-Ramirez’s car traveling 45 mph in a 25 mph zone, hitting Sluka from behind while going through a red light, pushing him 25 feet into oncoming traffic.

According to the criminal complaint, Rivera-Ramirez, then with his wife and two children, walked away from the scene, abandoning the car.

Sluka was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital, where he died.

Had Rivera-Ramirez not come to the Pittsburgh area illegally, driving the city streets without a license, Sluka would be alive today. His illegal actions had dire consequences, which could have affected any of the over 302,000 other people who live and work in Pittsburgh.

On Monday, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey told the Press Club in Harrisburg that his administration would not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants within the city.

Gainey even attacked ICE, saying deporting illegal criminals would not solve the immigration crisis.

“ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy. It’s not going to do it,” Gainey said. “What it is going to do is create more situations where people feel scared, where people don’t feel safe, where people do things they normally wouldn’t do.”

Local Democrats said Gainey, who is in the middle of a contentious Democratic Primary race with fellow Democrat and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, was likely trying to curry favor with the far-left primary electorate that will decide the race.

Privately shared polling numbers showed that Gainey is in trouble in the May primary election, trailing O’Connor in multiple polls.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, on the other hand, had the opposite reaction yesterday. He announced he would not fight the Trump administration’s effort to deport illegal immigrants.

Duggan said he supports lawful immigration, but he would not rebuff ICE’s removing people here illegally. “Detroit is not a sanctuary city,” the longtime Democrat said. “We are a welcoming city. A welcoming city means if you are in this country lawfully as an immigrant, we encourage you to come here. We support your success. If you are in this country illegally, we should not be shielding you from ICE and federal enforcement, and the city of Detroit does not do so.”

Gainey told reporters he did not believe Pittsburgh police officers would work with ICE officials in the near future. Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Cara Cruz told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette the city “has no evidence of ICE activity occurring within city limits and has not been asked to assist the agency in any way.”

This gave credence to the notion that Gainey’s crowing was more about exciting his far-left base ahead of the May primary.

Gainey, along with congresswoman Summer Lee and Allegheny County chief executive Sara Innamorato, all won their seats here in Western Pennsylvania largely by running in low-turnout primary election cycles where the closed primary electorate is further left than the general electorate.

Both Lee and Innamorato got their start in Pittsburgh politics with endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of Pittsburgh. Gainey has been deeply aligned with the SEIU, a social justice workers organization whose financial backing helped him win office.

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When Gainey took office, he appointed SEIU vice president and political director Silas Russel to co-chair his transition committee. Until recently, SEIU’s former Healthcare communications director Maria Montaño was his press secretary, and the SEIU’s former vice president Lisa Frank is now the city’s chief operating and administrative officer.

One city Democrat frustrated with Gainey said, “It is reasonable to want to have criminals here illegally removed. That is just common sense. All Gainey is doing is grandstanding for his benefit, not thinking of the safety of his constituents, which should be his No. 1 priority.”