Two people embrace on July 16, 2025 at vigil outside the Super Gigante – West Norriton Farmers Market in West Norriton Township. (Rachel Ravina – MediaNews Group)
Immigration enforcement operations continue in Norristown as a man was detained by officers last week, according to Voces Norristown Radio.
The Norristown-based Spanish radio station posted a video at 7:38 a.m. to its Facebook account, which appeared to show a man being apprehended by agents donning masks.
While the exact location was unclear, representatives from the radio station wrote that the video captured the alleged incident “between Airy and Astor” streets in Norristown.
“Several arrests this morning in Norristown. They are still in the area!” read a post that was translated from Spanish. “They also took away more neighbors in other parts of Norristown. So be alert, people!”
Advocates confirmed the man in the video was the sole detainment Friday morning, however, it’s unclear if more may have taken place. A U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement spokesperson did not respond to MediaNews Group’s request for comment as of Friday afternoon.
Instances of nearly 100 detentions were recorded by advocates as of early December 2025, but it’s unclear how that figure has changed in the new year.
An ICE spokesperson previously declined to disclose the number of detentions. Fourteen undocumented immigrants were detained in July 2025 at a West Norriton Township supermarket as witnesses observed dozens of agents donning masks and military gear swarm the parking lot in one of the area’s more visible raids.
“They drive recklessly in the streets. They impersonate local law enforcement. They routinely break the windows of vehicles that they pull over on traffic stops, which they shouldn’t even be doing as civil law enforcement. They wear masks to hide their identity and escape accountability,” Community for Change Montgomery County Lead Organizer Stephanie Vincent said at a December 2025 press conference.
Immigration advocates have been on high alert in recent months as federal agents have been present in and around Norristown as part of a nationwide federal immigration crackdown.
Nicole Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on Wednesday in Minneapolis, after authorities said she attempted to run over an ICE agent with her SUV, according to the Associated Press. The incident sparked outrage from many activists across the country who took to the streets in protest.
Between 40 and 50 people gathered at an intersection in King of Prussia during the Wednesday evening rush hour commute to mourn Good. Hundreds gathered in front of City Hall in Philadelphia on Thursday evening.
“We decided to go out there, and whoever would come out … and speak up against this injustice and say we want ICE to be gone, that our streets are not safer, they’re making us unsafe, and we’re done,” Vincent told MediaNews Group of the Wednesday evening suburban demonstration at the intersection of U.S. Route 202 and Henderson Road.
Vincent noted the need to organize came about “organically” as news spread of Good’s death. Participants held signs, chanted and lit candles in Good’s memory. The situation hit close to home for Vincent and others involved in rapid response efforts through Montco Community Watch, a grassroots organization focused on documenting immigration enforcement activities.
“A lot of people see themselves in Renee,” Vincent said Thursday. “As someone who is an organizer for rapid response, all I could do, think about last night was picture each one of our volunteers, and think about … that could be them that got shot. That could be me that got shot.”
Wednesday’s shooting was caught on camera in a residential area of Minneapolis and has been widely circulated on social media.
“It’s not just anger, it’s also sadness, and also, just that depth of the identification of what you’re doing every day is what this woman was doing when she got shot,” Vincent said.
Legislators respond
Elected officials representing Montgomery County constituents at the state and local levels have issued statements condemning Wednesday’s incident in Minneapolis.
“Americans have seen that when the White House gives masked, armed agents free rein in our communities, people get hurt and families are ripped apart. My thoughts are with Renee’s family and the community from which she was so violently and needlessly taken,” state Sen. Maria Collett, D-12th Dist., said in a statement Thursday.
“Indiscriminate ICE raids do not make communities safer. These raids terrorize our neighborhoods, erode trust, and violate our shared dignity,” state Sen. Art Haywood, D-4th Dist., said in a statement on Thursday.
“We’ve been seeing interactions with masked federal agents escalate for months all across our country, including in my district, and have heard seemingly countless reports of not only undocumented residents being taken into custody, but of Americans being wrongly detained and of agents using unnecessary force to do so. Many of our residents are living in fear,” State Rep. Greg Scott, D-54th Dist., said in a statement to MediaNews Group Friday afternoon.
“The loss of life witnessed this week – in person and captured on video –is horrific. And it was unnecessary,” Scott continued. “As a first responder, the complete lack of immediate, emergency care for Ms. Good is appalling. It’s indicative of an absence of basic humanity. No matter what crime an agent thinks they’re addressing, they should still also be working to preserve life and cause as little harm as possible.”
U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4th Dist, castigated Trump Administration officials for remarks about the incident that appeared to place blame on Good and the shooting as justified “self defense.”
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday’s incident was a response to “an act of domestic terrorism,” per media reports. Vice President JD Vance said, “This was a tragedy in her own making.” President Donald Trump on Truth Social called the “woman driving the car,” later identified as Good, “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting” and alleged Good had “viciously ran over the ICE Officer.”
“No, she hadn’t,” Dean said in a video posted to Instagram.
Several Minnesota officials rejected the federal classifications made about the shooting. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey categorized the self-defense argument as “garbage” after viewing video recordings, per media reports. Frey also told ICE to “get the [expletive] out of Minneapolis.”
State Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, D-17th Dist., echoed Frey’s sentiments. In a statement Thursday, she said, “ICE, get the hell out of our cities and communities.”
“What is wrong with this administration that they don’t do the decent thing and say let’s wait for the investigation,” Dean said. “But they don’t want to wait for the investigation.”
“They wanted to dehumanize her to blame her for her death, being shot in the head by an ICE officer within 10 seconds of being approached in her car,” she continued. “What is wrong with this administration? We are better than this.”
“Those responsible must be held fully accountable. No officer exercising the power of the state should be permitted to mask their identity, and Pennsylvania must end all local cooperation with ICE,” Haywood said, expressing intentions to introduce legislation to “ban indiscriminate raids within the Commonwealth” of Pennsylvania.
Several legislators in Harrisburg also introduced companion legislation back in 2025 that sought to ban immigration agents from wearing masks. Local representation on the “Officer Visibility Act” and “No Secret Police: Unmask Ice” in the House and Senate, respectively, came from Cappelletti, Scott and state Rep. Joe Webster, D-150th Dist. Senate Bill 1071 was last referred to the judiciary in October 2025, and House Bill 1880 was last referred to the judiciary in September 2025, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s website.
“ICE has become a symbol of government overreach, and its agents’ actions are a betrayal of our core democratic values,” Cappelletti said in a November 2025 statement. “Their unprecedented use of masked policing is not just misguided, it is an intentional attempt to reshape America through fear and scapegoating.”
Another vigil to honor Good’s memory is scheduled to take place from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday at Meadowbrook Plaza, 280 Main St. in Harleysville, Lower Salford Township.
