ICE detentions in Pittsburgh continue to rise as questions remain over Kittanning DMV arrests
Early last Friday morning, a long line began forming outside the West Kittanning Drivers License Center as a number of foreign-born drivers from Central Asian countries waited to process medical form updates for their commercial drivers licenses. It made for an unusually busy morning at the center that operates just two days a week.
Local law enforcement later said the group was initially orderly. But the sight drew the attention of local residents who began calling the East Franklin Police Department and its chief, Jason Hufhand, the department's only full-time employee, to report the presence of the men who they believed might be undocumented immigrants.
Chief Hufhand, who entered into a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January, forwarded the tip to immigration officials.
Hours later, immigration officers descended on the Armstrong County center and men began to flee, some abandoning their cars at the scene, before 13 were arrested by ICE and taken to the agency's field office on Pittsburgh's South Side to be processed, local and federal law enforcement officials said.
The situation, which drew widespread attention on social media, marks the latest high-profile immigration enforcement operation in the region as the number of people detained by ICE in Pittsburgh - a regional deportation hub - has continued to rise over the past year.
At least 767 people were detained by ICE in Pittsburgh during the second half of last year, a 75% increase from the first six months of 2025 when 438 people were held on the South Side, according to figures obtained by the Deportation Data Project, a group that publishes immigration data obtained through public records requests.
More people were detained by ICE in Pittsburgh last year than any other year in over a decade, although data on detentions at the South Side field office is not available for years earlier than 2012.
"Things picked up in the summer, but that was also kind of the onboarding and ramping up of the Trump administration," Pittsburgh-based immigration attorney Kristen Schneck said, noting that ICE operations have expanded since. "With the hiring of so many more people and now that DHS has so much money … I don't think we're at its limit."
Another 329 people were detained at the city's ICE field office between the beginning of 2026 through March 10, putting the agency on track to outpace the previous year's activity in this region.
By comparison, less than 250 people were detained by ICE in Pittsburgh between 2023 and 2024 combined.
As immigration enforcement continues to ramp up, the Department of Homeland Security has been publishing multiple news releases each week highlighting ICE arrests involving convicted criminals from across the country. The White House said last year that Trump's "deportation program of criminals" has launched an "unprecedented era of homeland security."
Last week, DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Laura Bis doubled down on those assertions in a news release that included a list of five people arrested by ICE in California, Texas, and Florida who had been previously convicted of charges that include attempted murder, stalking, and sexual assault.
"Despite the incessant lies from the liberal media, ICE is NOT slowing down," Ms. Bis said. "Just yesterday, ICE arrested gang members, attempted murderers, multiple pedophiles, stalkers, and drug traffickers. Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump's promise to the America safe again."
Ms. Bis went on to state that nearly 70% of those arrested by ICE are charged or convicted of a crime.
ICE's Philadelphia field office, which oversees the Pittsburgh region, has also been regularly posting on social media about statewide arrests of criminally charged or convicted immigrants, including that of an Equatorial Guinean man in the Pittsburgh area last month accused of sexually assaulting a disabled woman at a senior living facility.
Data indicates that the majority of the individuals detained by ICE in the Pittsburgh area have never been charged or convicted of a crime.
Throughout all of 2025, 17% of those held by ICE on the South Side had been criminally convicted while another 24% had pending criminal charges, according to the data. More than half had only been charged with an immigration violation, which is considered a civil offense.
Since the beginning of 2026 through early March, about 11.5% of those detained in Pittsburgh had criminal convictions. Approximately 66% had never been charged or convicted of a crime.
Changes to the rules
As the federal government continues to arrest an increasing number of people across the region, the Trump administration has been making policy changes around immigration status - including pushing to end birthright citizenship, enshrined in the Constitution in 1868 to give those born in the country automatic citizenship, an issue the U.S. Supreme Court is now reviewing.
In June, the federal government ended protections against deportation for those with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, which required a court order determining that an applicant cannot reunite with their parents and that it is not in their best interest to return to their home country.
Luis Gilberto Loja Mayancela - a 23-year-old from Ecuador who spent years and thousands of dollars in legal fees to obtain SIJ status after arriving in the U.S. as a teenager - had no idea those protections had been cancelled until after he was arrested by ICE outside a Lowe's hardware store in Monroeville in January.
Mr. Mayancela is now being held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest ICE detention facility in the northeast.
As Mr. Mayancela, who has not been convicted of a crime aside from a few minor traffic offenses, waits to go before an immigration judge, he learned last month that DHS had formally stripped him of the protection against deportation, said his friend and coworker, Ian James, who helped secure a lawyer for Mr. Mayancela and speaks to him regularly.
"When I heard they revoked his deferred action, I was extremely frustrated," Mr. James said. "You don't know how hard this gentleman has worked and how much he paid to try to do things the right way and, just because a change of a president and change of an administration, now this isn't the right way."
Last year, between Trump's inauguration in January and late December, ICE detained 265 people with SIJ status and deported 165, according to a letter that DHS sent to Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez obtained by NBC News.
"If these SIJ [status] kids get removed [from the U.S.], they're never getting back in here," Patrick Murphy, the Pittsburgh attorney representing Mr. Mayancela, told the Post-Gazette last month.
Questions over Kittanning remain
While it remains unclear why so many immigrants showed up at the West Kittanning Drivers License Center on Friday, the incident comes after the Trump administration implemented a new federal rule last month that revoked commercial driver's licenses from immigrants who held statuses that previously had temporary protections, including work authorization.
In making the change, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there were 30 total deaths in 2025 involving foreign-born drivers.
On Saturday, Armstrong County Sheriff Frank Pitzer said it was unclear why so many drivers showed up in West Kittanning, but he heard a rumor circulating that someone had posted online that they got assistance with a CDL license at that location, causing others from across the region to flock to the center.
In a statement earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it was also unsure why so many people showed up at the West Kittanning center last week. The department said it was processing medical form updates for current holders of non-domiciled commercial learner's permit or driver's license holders.
PennDOT said it did not coordinate with ICE "in any capacity" before the incident and said it was following the federal mandate regarding CDL licenses for foreign-born drivers.
"PennDOT remains steadfast in following state and federal law and there is no activity or transaction occurring at West Kittanning or elsewhere that violates state or federal law," according to a statement from the department.
In the wake of the incident, ICE said it was investigating the situation. The agency did not respond to requests for additional information regarding the probe. ICE also did not respond to questions regarding whether all 13 individuals arrested at the center remain in custody.
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