Many immigrants, both legal and illegal, are reluctant to cooperate with police for fear of deportation, advocates say.
The new arrangement allows ICE agents to scrutinize computer arrest records for defendant information. Data fields pertaining to victims and witnesses, however, will be shielded.
The two-year-old agreement under which ICE had access to the city's Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System was set to expire Aug. 31.
"I said on July 1 that we want to have an agreement with ICE, but that we needed to fix and refine the PARS system," Nutter said. "My concerns have been addressed."
The Philadelphia director of ICE assured Nutter that federal agents had never used PARS to target victims and witnesses who were in the United States illegally, he said.
Still, Nutter said, the new arrangement gives him more confidence. Quoting an old saying, Nutter said: "Trust everybody, but still cut the cards."
Nutter urged broad cooperation with police: "Victims should come forward. Witnesses should speak out. No action with regards to their [immigration] status will be taken."
And he used the announcement to address the national debate about immigration, and the estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States.
"We need to put in place a system which is fair to those from other countries who follow the rules and wait in line for the opportunity to come to America," he said. "But we cannot and must not ignore the plight of the millions of individuals whose status here is undocumented.
"Yes, we need enhanced border control. Yes, we need to focus our efforts on those who pose a threat to our country. But let's not fall into the trap set by the tea party and others who would tell you that every single undocumented individual is a drug smuggler, a terrorist, or a threat to the American way of life. That is simply not true."
