A masked federal agent arrests a man at 11th Street and Duss Avenue in Ambridge, Beaver County, with the help of local law enforcement on July 31, 2025. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh's Public Source)
Federal and local law enforcement collaborated on 12 arrests in the Beaver County town, drawing a community response.
ICE agents swarmed the riverside town of Ambridge late Thursday evening, arresting 12 people in cooperation with local law enforcement.
The agents, a number of whom wore masks to hide their faces, were aided by the Ambridge Police Department, Beaver County Sheriff’s office and at least one Pennsylvania State Police officer in an operation that spanned several hours and criss-crossed the riverside town with a blossoming Latino community.
“This is the most intense thing we have ever seen” in immigration enforcement in the region, said Jaime Martinez, community defense organizer at Casa San José.
“We have seen some really gnarly things tonight. We saw a family split up with small children. We saw people taken from the supermarket. We saw people being indiscriminately pulled over because of the color of their skin,” Martinez said. “On top of that, we saw two of our own get arrested for standing and for making their voice heard. We all know that this isn’t America.”
Ambridge Police Chief John DeLuca said the operation was a “saturation patrol,” which included officers from the sheriff’s office, probation and parole, drug task force and the Department of Homeland Security. At least one agent of U.S. Customs and Border Protection was also involved.
DeLuca said ICE was given permission to use the police station to process people who were arrested.
DeLuca also confirmed that two bystanders, both of whom had responded from Pittsburgh to document and observe enforcement in Ambridge, were arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
Before 9:30 p.m., local police pulled over a young Latino couple in a traffic stop, asking for a green card, bystanders said. ICE agents followed, and officers across multiple agencies blocked the street. Casa San José-organized Rapid Response Network volunteers stood nearby, recording the officers and informing the couple of their right to remain silent. Ambridge police threatened to arrest the volunteer: “It’s late at night, you’re disturbing the peace,” said Sergeant Sokheng Seng of the Ambridge police, adding the volunteer could be taken to the station and cited for their actions.
“I think you’re disturbing the peace,” the volunteer replied. Are we cooperating with ICE? Yeah,” Seng said. “They asked us to help. They’re doing their job and we’re doing ours.”
That cooperation, Seng said, includes “making traffic stops, doing our job.” Another officer chimed in: “We need to identify them. We ask for their card.” The couple was allowed to go free after being questioned by ICE.
DeLuca said it is not department policy for officers to question people about their immigration status.A person argues with local law enforcement officers from multiple agencies after the officers confiscated a megaphone that the person was using to warn local people about ICE in Ambridge on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) Word of the operation quickly spread throughout town.
Blocks away, a person walked the otherwise empty Merchant Street,
broadcasting a message on repeat through a bullhorn:
“Si la migra llega a su casa no abras la puerta.” (If immigration comes to your house, don’t open the door.) A woman told her to “shut up,” and sang “America the Beautiful” from the top of her balcony overlooking the street.
Soon, an unmarked county detective’s car pulled up, then more cruisers. Beaver County Detective Bureau Chief Detective Patrick Young exited, and after a brief exchange, yanked the bullhorn away, alleging that the person holding it was disturbing the peace.
“We’re just part of, like, helping out. More manpower than anything,” said Young, “I live just right up on the hill. I grew up here.” He confirmed that ICE was involved in the operation, but deferred to Ambridge police for details, who he said had jurisdiction.
On the sidewalk, a small crowd of locals gathered with response volunteers.
“I’m a veteran. I didn’t fight for this bullshit,” said a local woman named Stephanie, tears rolling down her cheeks.
At 10:28 p.m., at 11th Street and Duss Avenue, an Ambridge police cruiser pulled over a black Nissan with two men and a woman and two children, bystanders said. Two sheriff’s office vehicles, four unmarked cars and a throng of local police and masked agents stood to the rear on the sidewalk.
Volunteers, including three Christian nuns, prayed across the street in Spanish: “Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu nombre.” (Father, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.)
Sister Mary Parks (left) and Sister Sarah Crotty (right), of Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, observe an ICE arrest in Ambridge on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Two men were arrested and led by ICE agents into an unmarked white van.
A block away, ICE agents, along with sheriff’s deputies and local officers, stood outside the garage entrance to the Ambridge Police Department. Moments later, the white van pulled up to the door, and the two Latino men were led in handcuffs into the building. Masked agents followed.
A masked federal agent leads a man in handcuffs into the Ambridge police department on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
A crowd of roughly 40 bystanders gathered outside the Ambridge Police Department as federal agents led two men in shackles into an unmarked white van on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Soon, a crowd of more than 40 response volunteers from Pittsburgh and local bystanders crowded the entrance to the police station.
Martinez spoke: “This is not upholding the rule of law. This is a violation of human dignity. Ambridge won’t stand for that. Pennsylvania won’t stand for that. …Think of the disappointment that you’ve become for this community. We deserve better.”
The crowd chanted in unison: “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!”
A volunteer with a flag that read, “No justice, no peace” ran, yelling, around the perimeter of the station. He was arrested by police at the rear, and after a brief confrontation with police, a nurse named Katie Melson, who had been speaking with officers, was arrested on charges of obstruction of law enforcement, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and harassment. As of Friday at noon she was still at Beaver County Jail, her wife said.
(Left) Katie Melson is arrested by Ambridge police while her wife, Amy Mathieu (right), argues with officers on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
When police began to disperse, a local business owner named Chris Bendick followed the cruisers in his car. “I’m really angry,” he said, peering out through the windshield at the officers.
“I mean you see videos of this stuff and it just makes you mad and angry, you know, and then it hits your community … These people aren’t hurting anyone, man,” he continued. “There’s every single Ambridge police officer here helping and it’s just like, this is not what community is supposed to do.”
ICE has said collaboration with local law enforcement “enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities by allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations [ERO] to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the U.S.”
Ambridge, a borough of around 7,000 people, has a Latino population estimated by the Census Bureau at close to 400. At 5%, that’s around double the metro area’s concentration of Latino residents.
Bystanders and Casa San José Rapid Response volunteers and organizers stand outside of the Ambridge police department after multiple ICE arrests aided by local law enforcement on July 31. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Speaking to television news after police had dispersed, Sister Sarah Crotty, of Sisters of St. Joseph in nearby Baden, addressed those gathered:
“I’ve lived here in Ambridge about seven years, and it’s a lovely community. And in the last few years, we’ve had so many new businesses opening. … including Hispanic businesses down on Merchant Street, which is wonderful. And it makes it a much more livable and vibrant community. But tonight I saw that come to a crashing halt. Our average police force who are sworn to protect and serve, were cooperating with ICE in ripping families apart, taking people off the street for the color of their skin …They’re terrorizing people.”
Quinn Glabicki is the environment and climate reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at quinn@publicsource.org and on Instagram @quinnglabicki.
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