Attendees at a south Bethlehem town hall told Lehigh Valley congressional candidates they fear the expansion of immigration enforcement in the region and question how best to keep their neighbors safe while holding the government accountable. The Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network invited all candidates in the crowded race to represent Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District to listen to volunteers’ stories of how they monitor and respond to U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement activity and to explain how elected officials can address residents’ concerns. Approximately 200 people filled the hall at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, and those who asked questions implored the candidates to offer more effective protection strategies for sensitive spaces such as churches, schools, child care centers and courthouses. “My question is: How can we help to keep our brown and Black and undocumented family, friends, neighbors safe from the abuses of ICE when, not if, they descend upon the Lehigh Valley?” said Patricia Marino Hardwick, adding that she knows immigration officials are already present but she fears a large-scale expansion of enforcement actions. Elizabeth DeJesus, whose husband Darwin Contreras Rodriguez has been in detention since June after being picked up by ICE officials following the completion of a non-immigration-related hearing at the Lehigh County Courthouse, said she needs to know that those who are detained will be coming home. “I want a guarantee that something is going to happen for them,” DeJesus said. Of the seven Democrats running for the 7th District seat, three attended the Wednesday night town hall: former Northampton County Executive Lamont G. McClure, Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley and Lehigh Valley Young Democrats Vice President Aiden Gonzalez. A larger candidate turnout had been expected. Pennsylvania Fire Fighters Association President Bob Brooks was called away for union-related business, while former PPL regional manager Carol Obando-Derstine fell ill, said Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons, an organizer of the emergency response network and moderator of the town hall. Irons also reported that former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell had a scheduling conflict. Democratic candidate Lewis Shupe was expected but did not show. Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie was in Washington for House business, a spokesperson told The Morning Call. The candidates on stage vacillated between expressing support for local efforts to support immigrant communities, and offering condemnations of ICE. Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie, a volunteer with Indivisible, drew praise from the candidates as she described a grocery delivery program that is supporting 28 families. Candidates also endorsed the work of the emergency response network, with Gonzalez telling attendees to pick up one of the whistles Pinsley brought to hand out, and Pinsley calling for volunteers to attend training sessions or donate to the network. “I’m a politician, and I’m not asking for me,” Pinsley said, telling the crowd that his Jewish heritage taught him to always be honest about how much one is willing to risk to support vulnerable neighbors. Pinsley also proposed the creation of a public database that would document ICE actions so officers could be held accountable for abusive conduct. Gonzalez said heads of agencies should also face future legal action. McClure said he has a track record of standing up to ICE, repeatedly emphasizing his defense of a 2020 executive order that bars ICE from making arrests at the Northampton County Courthouse or jail without a warrant. While the candidates agreed that Congress should take aggressive action to limit ICE’s budget and constrain its activities, a question about whether or not the agency should exist at all drew the starkest disagreement of the night. Gonzalez and Pinsley said they’d be open to dismantling the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, although both acknowledged that functions such as citizenship applications, visa processing and border security would need to continue. McClure pushed back, saying he could not support the abolition of DHS because “countless terror plots have been disrupted here in the homeland” since the department’s creation after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. All candidates present said elected officials must take a strong stance against the Trump administration . “We need to fight like hell to end the chaos that Trump has brought to our country,” McClure said. Pinsley claimed the administration’s actions have a historical parallel. “We have to look at the detention centers as if it was Germany,” Pinsley said. “We have to look at ICE as if they’re the SS.” Congress should cease to fund immigration enforcement actions and instead put money into programs that celebrate Hispanic heritage and provide job placements for immigrants, Gonzalez said. “That’s what makes America great,” Gonzalez said, “not kidnapping people off the street.” The green cards that attendees waved to show agreement came out in force as the congressional candidates spoke of using government power to restore Constitutional rights. About half of the town hall attendees also waved green cards to indicate they’d already completed training with the emergency response network. Another session is scheduled for the end of the month.