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City Cast Pittsburgh

Francesca Dabecco

Ready to do your civic duty? Allegheny County’s primary election is next 

If you're voting at a new polling place or in PA for the first time, you may need to provide an 

. If you are a returning voter, you don’t need an ID.

If you’re voting by mail, your application for a mail-in or absentee ballot must be received by the 

 by 5 p.m. May 12. Once you receive and complete your ballot, it must be 

Send your ballot through USPS or drop it off at 

Want to make sure your ballot was received? 

Reminder: PA is one of just eight states with a 

, meaning only registered Democrats and Republicans get to vote in their respective parties’ spring primaries. Independents and third-party voters can, however, vote on ballot measures.

, state Senate, state House, U.S. Congress, and more.

See exactly what’s on your ballot by entering your municipality, ward, and district into 

Elections can’t run smoothly without volunteers at each polling place. Help set up, check in voters, and assist with equipment by 

. Extra perk: You can make $150-$175 for your day of work.

7 Ideas To Make Voting Better in PA

How well do our elections actually work? Here are 

seven ways PA could improve its voting process

, from opening our primaries to making Election Day a holiday.

What to know before you vote in Allegheny County’s primary election on May 19.

Your Guide To Voting in the 2026 Primary Election in Allegheny County

Pittsburgh's Guide To Voting in the 2026 Primaries

Tips and tricks for living your best Pittsburgh life, by locals, for locals.

Pittsburgh Life Hacks

Megan Harris

If you've felt scared, unsettled, or in danger because of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement activity, here are concrete ways to learn more about what's happening in Pittsburgh and how to get involved, including rapid-response trainings that prepare residents to safely document ICE activity, organizations providing legal or mutual aid, community care options for children and families, rent and food support, and more.

What Are Pittsburgh Officials Saying About ICE?

, which means our public safety officials, including police, won’t assist them. But local police may still be dispatched to monitor a situation, and it’s not clear 

 while off duty. In other cities where ICE is more active, the voice of the mayor seems to hold little weight.

Pittsburgh City Council is urging PA senators 

 that would provide another $10 billion to ICE. Under President Donald Trump, the agency now has 

 than any other U.S. law enforcement group. U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-Braddock) and Dave McCormick (R-Squirrel Hill) 

 that could bar elected officials and county employees from cooperating with ICE unless ordered by a federal judge. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called Trump’s influence on immigration enforcement and federal funding “chaotic.” 

 the raids “have nothing to do with protecting us from criminals and actually threaten the region’s long-term growth and stability.”

 are making their own choices about whether to work with ICE, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of local officials or voters. Public Source published 

Neither Pittsburgh nor Pennsylvania have 

 limiting local cooperation with ICE, which could include sharing access to databases, personal information, or legal proceedings where targets may be present. 

 last year but was later removed. Trump pledged this month to withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities.”

, Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration is prepared to handle a Minneapolis-style ICE occupation in Pennsylvania. He called agents’ behavior there “lawless” and “unacceptable” — and categorized the recent shooting death of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol as an “atrocity.” 

 would prohibit civil immigration arrests within 1,000 feet of state-owned or leased facilities absent a judicial order or warrant.

You can make your voice heard by calling your elected leaders. The app 

 helps locate their contact information and provides scripts you can use or adapt.

If You or Someone You Know is Affected by ICE Activity

If you or a loved one are detained by ICE, you can call Casa San José or Frontline DIGNITY’s emergency response lines.

If you are trying to find someone who’s been detained by ICE, try the national 

Find the latest data on ICE arrests and removals at 

Find ICE Response Trainings & Know-Your-Rights Info

Casa San José and Frontline DIGNITY have helped organize hundreds of volunteers to help with interpretation services, respond to families in crisis, and serve as safe, legal observers of ICE activity. Here’s more about the groups and partner organizations.

In addition to legal clinics and Know Your Rights sessions, Casa San José operates an 

 that monitors immigration enforcement and sends volunteers to court appointments. Follow the community center’s 

 for more educational resources and ways to get involved.

The community organization teaches volunteers 

, document enforcement activity, and respond safely when ICE shows up. Follow their 

This statewide coalition works directly with immigrant communities and supports grassroots organizations. They offer one of the best websites we’ve seen for resources about knowing your rights in different situations, as well as 

 for families, employers, schools and colleges, union stewards, health care workers, and more.

 with preparedness guides, legal rights checklists, and community support planning resources — a good reference for organizations and volunteers helping impacted families.

 to vulnerable immigrants, including education on the legal rights of people who've been detained and help for survivors of violence. They also lead an 

 that provides training, safety planning tools, and technical assistance with issues like language access in court.

The statewide legal advocacy group has know-your-rights guides available in 

City Cast Pittsburgh spoke to senior staff attorney Vanessa Stine to learn 

, what rights immigrants have regardless of their legal status, and how bystanders can help during an ICE encounter. There’s a 

Stay Informed About ICE Activity in Pittsburgh

Local reporters and advocates all over our region are trying to document ICE encounters and their effect on our region. Here are a few that really stand out.

The nonprofit newsroom closely follows immigration enforcement in Pittsburgh and across Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

 works to protect peoples' constitutional rights through actions across all 50 states. Find local information and ways to get involved through the 

1Hood Media promotes social justice through 

 to find out about local ICE response, upcoming protests, and more community events.

This grassroots political organizing group often spearheads or helps get the word out about 

 in Western Pennsylvania. If you’re outside the city, look for an 

Local Groups Supporting Immigrant Communities

Lots of organizations and networks already exist to support our immigrant and refugee communities. Note: These are not for crisis response. Please let us know if we left someone off the list at 

Pittsburgh Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs

 by streamlining access to city services, community groups, and opportunities for entrepreneurs. Helpful if you need local data supporting the value of immigration.

 for immigrants such as citizenship and legal assistance, literacy and ESL classes, youth programs, refugee resettlement services, and more.

 with housing, employment, education, health care navigation, and community building. They also run a mentorship matching program so locals can support families directly.

Church leaders offer advice on how religious communities can prepare, respond, and support the immigrant community, including a 

 on what to do if ICE comes to your church.

, including housing assistance, case management, employment support, and legal referrals. They also have a housing registry and donation options to help newly-arrived families settle. JFCS is connected to 

AIU3’s Immigrant Services and Connections

The workforce development organization helps immigrants and refugees find sustainable employment through its 

. It’s a part of their mission to support all people, and especially women, with free career development workshops, mentoring, and career coaching.

 for green card applications, naturalization, family reunification, and more — helpful for families needing legal support.

 (ISAC) program, Literacy Pittsburgh helps immigrants with food, rent/utility support, transportation access, and health care — often in multiple languages and without barriers to enrollment.

Trainings, mutual aid, family support, and other resources to help immigrant communities as ICE activity escalates nationwide.

 How To Help Immigrants in Pittsburgh

Ways To Support Pittsburgh’s Immigrant Communities

What Pittsburghers have been wondering. We break down why things in Pittsburgh are the way they are and how they work.

Pittsburgh, Explained

What has Corey O’Connor been up to during his first month in office? City Cast Pittsburgh podcast host 

 to hear about new initiatives, tight budgets, and some fresh ideas to revitalize Downtown.

We also asked O'Connor YOUR questions. Listen to the podcast for his takes on ICE, affordability, dark sky compliance, parks, snow plows, litter, and more.

Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

 We still have a lot of leftover Eat’n Park Smiley Cookies.

 It used to be good. I haven't posted scores in like two years, but I think two years ago was around like a 3.5.

Favorite part of the mayor's office so far? 

I did this as the [county] controller. Even today, before you guys got here, one of my meetings ended a little early, so we walked the halls. We went to the fourth floor, saw public safety and the parks departments. And I always think it's good of the mayor to just pop in. And the reaction you get is, you know, somebody's not looking. They're like, ‘Oh my goodness! What are you doing?!’ I’m just here to say thank you. I really enjoy doing those kinds of pop-ins. They're fun. 

This room is obviously beautiful, the actual mayor's office. 

 — we didn’t plan on this — but I tried to sit in the seat and I couldn't get the chair to go up or down. I'm not very tall. I’m 5’6, so I could barely see over the desk. So I ran and I got a cushion, threw it under, and you know, you gotta just deal with what you got in the office. But that room is really nice. It's historic, and a lot of people enjoy coming down to the mayor's office.

Your predecessor called our current budget situation “

.” You came in fresh on the heels of a 

. How are you feeling about Pittsburgh’s ability to pay its bills in 2026? 

We're still putting it together. I think what City Council did was brave, because we do have funding gaps. But now, uncovering various things as we go through this process, we're still seeing gaps in funding and trying to get our hands around what the [difference] might ultimately be. … I think it's more than what we anticipated.

Do you anticipate any new cuts for the city?

 Not that we're expecting. It could change. If [we have to], we'll reopen the budget and have that conversation. But I don't think we'll know the details for [another] couple weeks.

Several past mayors have tried to get the “big four” or “big five” nonprofits — including UPMC, Highmark, Pitt, CMU, and Duquesne — to pay toward city services in some way. What’s your approach? 

We've had some general conversations. For us, it's going in with specific asks to all of the nonprofits, within their mission, to get a community benefits agreement that's gonna benefit everybody. So does it go to rec centers? Does it go to buying us more equipment, to our fleet, 

? So focusing on ambulances, fire trucks, police — can we get an agreement that is very specific in where the money goes. And making sure that if something like that is finalized, that the money is audited annually so that more eyes are on it and the public knows the dollars are being spent properly.

We have, yeah. I mean, generally, not specific details. We'll see how it goes. Every day you're just inching the ball forward. It hasn't been done in decades, so it's not the easiest thing to do. But I think conversations have been going well, and we'll just keep pushing for a community benefits agreement.

, focused on revitalizing business districts. Give me an example of what you want to revitalize and what a mayor's office can do to get it done. 

Every neighborhood has that intersection that everybody goes to, and it's not always just a shop or a restaurant, but there's that connectivity. And I think those are the places we have to focus on. So whether it's cleaning up, putting in better lighting, providing facade grants to a new company or an existing business that already is in your main street now, those are the things that really get small business districts going again and [can create] anchors to larger developments.

How do you balance that with people who are worried about getting priced out of their neighborhood?

 For us, it's making sure that when there is a development — and the development we announced [

] was 44 units, 85% affordable — [that it] can anchor in a business district. It also goes back to planning and zoning. If we zone a little bit for density in those business districts, now you have a transit line. You have more people living above the new pizza shop that just opened and supporting that business. So it's not gonna happen overnight, but that's how you have to envision these districts.

You asked your department heads to bring you recommendations to improve the current permitting system. The deadline is 60 days. What do you want to change about it, and have you heard any good ideas yet?

 We did. We actually had two graduate students from Harvard who came here our first two weeks and analyzed our permitting system and gave us a 30 page report. … There are gonna be some minor changes we can make, hopefully leading up to that deadline and then seeing what the whole overhaul would look like once we get to that 60 days. And then whether it's legislation that needs done, whether it's internal changes — we've seen that some departments are just overloaded with permits. [The city] asking for like six permits for one little curb cut. There's gotta be a limit to what we're asking for.

 Not for big developers who can pay lawyers to do a lot of the background stuff. This is for small businesses and entrepreneurs so that they're not waiting months for a permit. Even community organizations that want to build housing in their neighborhood — the sooner we speed those permits up for them, the better they can use their money and get these projects up and running.

I heard you want to change the Boulevard of the Allies. What’s the vision? 

The Boulevard of the Allies shouldn't feel like a major highway cutting through our downtown, especially through a campus like Point Park. So working with PennDOT and state officials to look at narrowing, possibly getting rid of a couple parking spots on either side, better lighting, better art, and green infrastructure. Now all of a sudden it is your grand boulevard entrance from both sides of town into Downtown Pittsburgh. Makes it more vibrant, makes it more walkable, but also brings a sense of Downtown as a community. Having highways going through it doesn't feel that way.

You’ve proposed a special tax diversion for Downtown where property tax revenue from neighborhoods along the transit line — the Strip District, Downtown, and parts of the North Shore — could help fund specific, small projects in Downtown. Why there and why now, especially on top of the $600 million already earmarked for Arts Landing, Market Square, and more? 

The $600 million doesn't fill all the gaps in smaller projects. This would be for projects that are sort of ready to go, shovel ready, or just need that additional kick start … that have sat and still need $2-3 million. We have to get up and running, because then we generate the tax revenue back and it enables us to create more housing faster, create more office space, and create more storefronts. Little things go a very long way in making Downtown more vibrant for everybody. Tomorrow, Point Park is announcing a very big artist moving to Pittsburgh, which I think is very unique. The Weeknd is going to be working in Pittsburgh now… with his company HXOUSE — a studio in connection with Point Park, which now puts us on the world stage when you're talking about artists coming to Pittsburgh, especially to help revitalize Downtown and partner with young students who want to get into the music field. It just gives us another leg up.

 for Downtown right now, all in advance of the NFL Draft. Who is that for?

 For an entrepreneur that never thought they could be open in Downtown. How do we get you Downtown? And I also think the Draft is a great way to do this, because there's about 50 plus storefronts that we want to have filled. … The more we can amplify the stuff that we have here, the better off we all are.

There was a line in your inauguration speech: “Public safety isn't a statistic. It's a feeling you have when you walk down the street.” Have you heard the criticisms of that, and what do you say to people who worry about whose feelings you’re catering to?

 I don't follow social media, but we can't rely only on statistics. When somebody's living next to a dilapidated house that the city owns — that's gonna fall on their house. … Crosswalks that aren't being taken care of. Sidewalks that are cracked. People with disabilities who need wheelchair access, and we don't have curbs that accommodate them so now they're in the streets. Those are not statistics that will ever pop up. That's what we're talking about.

City Cast Pittsburgh podcast host Megan Harris sits down with Mayor Corey O’Connor at the City-County Building.

We Interview Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor During His First Month in Office

Mayor Corey O’Connor Talks Budget Gaps, Filling Storefronts & Fresh Ideas for Downtown

 Test your knowledge of local history and current events. 🗓️

⏮️ Looking for a previous Hey Pittsburgh news quiz? Find it here:

💥 Pop quiz, Pittsburgh! What movie was filmed at Monroeville Mall?

Test Your Pittsburgh Knowledge With This Trivia Quiz

How Well Do You Know Pittsburgh? Take This Quiz!

” if President Donald Trump mobilizes the National Guard in Pennsylvania without local consent, as the president’s threatened to do in 

, including Chicago, Memphis, Baltimore, and New Orleans.

Talking to reporters in Philadelphia last week, Shapiro didn't outline what that preparation might look like. He said Trump is just creating chaos.

“I’m the former chief law enforcement officer of this commonwealth, and I understand what communities need to do to make people safe as governor,” Shapiro said, citing declining violent crime statistics, presumably in Philadelphia. “Now is not a time to disrupt that with distrust the way the president is doing in other communities.”

Troops entered Los Angeles in June and Washington, D.C. in August. Last week, Trump indicated Chicago would be next, posting via his social media platform Truth Social that the city was "about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR." (ICYMI, the President also recently 

 renaming the Department of Defense, but that’s not official without Congressional action.) He later said, "

He then changed course to Memphis. Trump called the city "deeply troubled" and said "

 just like we did in Washington." Tennesseans say violent crime is trending down.

 the deployment to L.A. was unconstitutional. The Trump administration immediately appealed.

 the White House is targeting Pennsylvania; neither Philly nor Pittsburgh have been mentioned. But given how Trump has “acted outside the bounds of the law,” Shapiro said PA would be ready.

: “Anyone who tries to undermine Pennsylvanians' fundamental freedoms will have to go through me — whether that's a predatory corporation or the President of the United States.”

Vic Walczak, legal director for the Pennsylvania office of the American Civil Liberties Union, told City Cast Pittsburgh he’s not aware of any “clear indication” an action is likely in PA. But a perceived emergency could escalate quickly.

“I have little doubt they will weaponize even the tiniest conflagration to justify sending in troops,” he said.

Christopher Borick, political scientist and director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute of Public Opinion, said Shapiro’s status as a likely 2028 contender for president “

” either, just as Trump’s pointed fingers at other Democratic hopefuls in California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

While we wait to see what comes next, here are the basics of how the National Guard works.

The National Guard is a part-time military force that responds to domestic emergencies like natural disasters, and also serves as a reserve component of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, including overseas combat. It was established before the American Revolution as the country’s first military institution, and Pennsylvania’s 

 when Benjamin Franklin created the Associators in Philadelphia. Today, the Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG) is one of the largest and most deployed in the country.

 at Pittsburgh International Airport in Coraopolis, where the PNG has had a presence since 1948. As of 2023, 

 about 400 full-time staff and 1,000 traditional guard members. Their primary role is to refuel aircraft while still in flight.

Each state maintains its own Army National Guard and Air National Guard, all under the command of the governor. However, during emergencies, 

 bars federal military troops from participating in civilian law enforcement without congressional approval. The National Guard usually does not fall under this category — except when federalized.

Earlier this summer, President Trump federalized California’s National Guard troops and deployed them to Los Angeles in response to protests against immigration enforcement actions. It was the 

 that a president did so over a governor’s objections, and a judge ruled it 

The deployment in Washington, D.C. is a little different. Since the district has no governor, Trump controls their National Guard. 

The National Guard troops coming to other cities would be federalized, possibly coming from other states.

Under the Posse Comitatus act, no. But the Department of Defense — 

, Posse Comitatus gets suspended, and federal troops can directly perform law enforcement actions.

Otherwise, detainments are a gray area. The senior military official leading the L.A. deployment 

 couldn't arrest people, but could detain civilians until law enforcement arrived. However, 

 said troops could not be used for "arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants."

Technically, reservists should not be able to hit or hurt the people they’re called upon to secure. Troops are 

 to protect themselves or others from immediate danger; to stop a violent act; or to protect critical military operations.

In D.C., troops aided in clearing close to 

, picking up garbage, and laying mulch. They’re also reportedly 

The Department of Defense also says the National Guard could be used to protect federal property. In Pittsburgh, that could include the federal courthouse Downtown, the FBI field office in the South Side, Social Security Administration offices, VA campuses, Point State Park (which is a state park, but includes federally recognized historic landmarks like the Fort Pitt Blockhouse), and much more.

Right now, it’s unclear what actions they’d take in Pennsylvania.

Know your rights at protests, with police, while traveling, and more.

Know what to do during an ICE encounter in Pittsburgh

Join Casa San Jose's emergency response program

Gov. Josh Shapiro is prepared if President Trump sends the National Guard into PA cities like Philly and Pittsburgh.

Can the National Guard Come to Pennsylvania?

What Happens if the National Guard Comes to Pittsburgh

Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 5, when you’ll be able to cast your vote for 

The Nov. 5 general election may feel like it’s still a ways away at this point, but it’s better to be early than late. Here’s your checklist to make sure you’re ready in time, and where to register in Pittsburgh.


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