President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would lead to population loss, exacerbate workforce shortages and increase tax burdens for Pennsylvania residents and businesses, the Democratic state lawmakers heard Wednesday.

Advocates for the immigrant community testified before the state House Democratic Policy Committee that although the federal government maintains exclusive authority over immigration policy, which is expected to take a draconian shift under a second Trump administration, state lawmakers can make Pennsylvania a more welcoming place.

“It’s been laid out very clearly. Unfortunately, it’s going to be immigrant detention and deportations on the horizon,” Julio Rodriguez, political director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, said. “So now it’s crucial that this legislature not only has welcoming policies to support immigrants, but to fight back against these proposals.”

The hearing on the last day of the 2023-2024 legislative session was convened by state Rep. Danilo Burgos (D-Philadelphia), who serves as chairperson of the Pennsylvania Legislative Latino Caucus.

Pennsylvania ranks fourth in the nation in population loss, Rodriguez said. In 2021, the net decrease in population between births and deaths was more than 23,000.

“We didn’t see that impact, because net international migration, also known as immigrants moving here, was 25,721,” Rodriguez said “Had it not been for immigrants, we would have seen a drastic population decline.”

A state’s population determines its number of representatives in Congress. Rodriguez noted that Pennsylvania lost one congressional seat after the 2020 census and could lose another in 2030. It would also result in Pennsylvania receiving less federal funding.

But more immediately, the loss of a portion of the commonwealth’s 978,000 immigrant residents would worsen the labor shortage in the agricultural sector, driving up grocery store prices. Undocumented workers also contribute billions in taxes and in the state’s gross domestic product, Rodriguez said.

Immigration groups brace for a second Trump administration

Cathryn Miller-Wilson, executive director of HIAS Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that provides aid to immigrants and advocates on their behalf, said history strongly suggests that the effects of an immigration crackdown will be severe.

Miller-Wilson noted that the United States has gone through several cycles of liberal and conservative immigration policies. After Congress passed the National Origins Act in 1924, which severely limited immigration, the country entered a period of stagnation that resulted in the Great Depression. 

“Now that wasn’t only because immigrants were kept out, but it certainly was in large part. We stopped creating patents, we stopped inventing, we stopped innovating, we stopped creating new businesses, we stopped hiring, we stopped increasing wages, and disaster ensued,” she said. 

“People voted because they can’t afford groceries. That’s fine. We can all understand that. We can all empathize with that,” Miller-Wilson said. “The problem is they don’t understand that what they voted for will increase prices and plunge our country into an economic crisis such as we haven’t seen for 100 years.”

House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) said the apprehension of what will come during the Trump administration is evident, and noted that her district office recently received a question about what can be done at the state level to protect immigrants.

“If you had to tell us your top three legislative goals for 2025 to 2026 — no, we don’t actually regulate immigration — but what do you think we can do?” McClinton asked Rodriguez.

Rodriguez said state lawmakers should oppose any measure that requires state or local agencies to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding residents who are suspected of being in the country without permission. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania recently published a report that details unlawful tactics and civil rights violations by the agency against immigrants living in Pennsylvania, he noted.

Rodriguez also highlighted legislation sponsored by Rep. Joe Hohenstein (D-Philadelphia) that would clarify the process for an undocumented immigrant to apply for a U visa, which is available to victims who assist in the prosecution of a crime and creates a pathway to legal residence. House Bill 1371, which was awaiting final consideration in the House, would establish duties and procedures for law enforcement, prosecutors and judges in the application process.

Julissa Morales, of the Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania, said her organization is focused on passing legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, to do so with a taxpayer identification number and to protect information in PennDOT’s database from access by ICE. House Bill 769, sponsored by Burgos, was introduced in March 2023, but did not receive consideration.

Rep. Greg Scott (D-Montgomery) noted that in his previous office as a district judge, he had seen defendants who were stopped for driving without a license multiple times because there is no way for them to get one. That has an impact on county jails where undocumented immigrants are often held on ICE detainers before being transported to immigration detention centers. 

Morales, who shared that both of her parents currently have no path to citizenship, said such policies affect people who are not just numbers, but family members.

“My parents are business owners, and part of the system that we are calling an economic workforce,” Morales said. “These are the people who are being impacted day to day for not being able to access something as simple as mobility.”

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pennsylvania lawmakers are taking new steps to protect the pets of domestic violence survivors.

Right now, Pennsylvania is one of only a few states that doesn’t allow animals to be included in protection from abuse orders, but a bill to change that passed the state Senate on Wednesday.

Advocates told KDKA-TV that this legislation could help human and animal victims of domestic violence break free from dangerous situations. 

Leaving an abusive relationship is difficult for a lot of reasons. For many victims, it’s fear of their pets’ safety.

“There’s a lot of statistics out there. One of them that really has resonated with me is that 71% of battered women have reported that their abusers had either harmed, killed or threatened their animals as a way to control them,” said Natalie Ahwesh, executive director of Humane Action Pittsburgh.

HB 1210 explicitly allows animals to be included in protection from abuse orders. The bill passed the state Senate by a vote of 47 to 1. It now heads to Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk for a signature. The bill previously passed the state House in 2023.

If the governor signs the bill into law, it will help ensure domestic violence survivors can escape their abusers with their four-legged best friend by their side and have the power to keep their pets safe as they seek protection.

“While this is a bill that’s going to make such a huge difference for animals, it’s really also going to make a huge difference for people out there that are experiencing violence. They are not going to have to choose between leaving their pets behind or finding safety for themselves and their companions,” Ahwesh said.

Republican Rep. Natalie Mihalek and Democrat Rep. Christina Sappey co-sponsored the bill. Humane Action Pittsburgh has pushed for this change for more than three years.

Ahwesh said it has had a lot of support from animal advocates, domestic violence organizations and law enforcement. 

“We built a really broad coalition that not only included animal welfare organizations but domestic violence organizations like the National Link Coalition, and law enforcement agencies really stepped up to support us. We had the Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Association fighting hard for this bill, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and the attorney general’s office,” she said.

The bill amends the state’s domestic relations act and allows a judge to give the person seeking protection temporary ownership rights of family pets and to order the defendant to refrain from abusing the victim’s pets.

The hope is that this change empowers survivors to leave because they can protect their pets who are considered family.

Ahwesh said this is only the beginning and more work needs to be done.

“There is definitely a lack of resources in the commonwealth of places that are able to accommodate people that are seeking shelter along with their pets. We have a lot of really great resources in the Pittsburgh area, either human shelters that will help accommodate people with their pets or foster programs where they can bring their pets to also seek safety. But it’s definitely overall something that we need more help with and more funding for in Pennsylvania,” she said.

Ahwesh expects the governor to sign the bill into law.

“We’re going to be working to make sure that judges and people experiencing violence and social workers and such all are aware that this law is now in effect so that we can start utilizing it and helping people and animals that are experiencing violence,” said Ahwesh.

Pennsylvania’s nationally watched U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a recount as incumbent Sen. Bob Casey did not waive an automatic recount.

The Associated Press called the race last week for Republican Dave McCormick who narrowly leads three-term Democrat Casey by less than 0.5%, the threshold for triggering an automatic recount under state law unless new returns pull it back over half a percent.

As the trailing candidate Casey had until noon Wednesday to waive his right to a recount and he did not do so, the Pennsylvania Department of State confirmed in a statement. Casey still trails McCormick by nearly 30,000 votes.

Secretary of State Al Schmidt is still waiting for unofficial returns from Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, the department said, and will determine based on those returns whether an automatic recount is warranted.

Schmidt must call for a recount by 5 p.m. Thursday and must alert candidates to the possibility 24 hours in advance, or 5 p.m. Wednesday.

If a recount is called counties are required to start the process by Wednesday, Nov. 20, at the latest. They must complete their recounts by Tuesday, Nov. 26.

Recounts often result in the final tallies of votes changing slightly for each candidate. But those corrections can go in either direction and usually only impact an extremely small fraction of votes. It is exceedingly rare for a recount to change the ultimate outcome of a statewide race, especially one divided by around 30,000 votes.

While Casey held a lead in polls for much of the campaign, the race tightened in the final days, and McCormick was leading as voters were counted in the days after the election. But his advantage shrank and fluctuated over time as some larger counties processed their provisional ballots, as of Wednesday it was within the 0.5% threshold.

Remarkably, this will be the second recount McCormick is involved in – in just his second competitive election. During Pennsylvania’s 2022 Senate race, McCormick fell short to Mehmet Oz in the GOP primary by fewer than 1,000 votes following a recount.

McCormick has projected confidence that his lead will hold, even as he has pursued challenges to the counting of some ballots.

After Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) initially withheld an invitation, McCormick is attending orientation for incoming senators this week.

“I don’t care who voted for me and didn’t vote for me,” McCormick said Friday in a victory speech. “Today, I turn the page. I am focused on serving every single Pennsylvanian.”

But Casey’s campaign has been holding out hope, releasing daily statements reaffirming that votes are still being counted in Pennsylvania.

“My priority has always been standing up for the people of Pennsylvania. Across our Commonwealth, close to 7 million people cast their votes in a free and fair election,” Casey said Tuesday morning. “Our county election officials will finish counting those votes, just like they do in every election. The American democratic process was born in Pennsylvania and that process will play out.”

In a statement, Wednesday morning, Casey’s campaign manager Tiernan Donohue criticized McCormick for continuing to pursue litigation that would segregate or throw out ballots.

“David McCormick and his allies are trying to disenfranchise Pennsylvania voters with litigation designed to throw out large tranches of votes that they’ve admitted in legal filings could impact the outcome of the election.,” Casey campaign manager Tiernan Donohue said in a statement.

This is a developing story.