One of Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner’s attorneys stopped documenting legal aid to migrants.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office is fighting a records request under state law to conceal charges of migrants seeking his office’s aid to avoid deportation.
After disclosing cases in prior years, Krasner’s team said in April that the immigration counsel is no longer keeping such lists. Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records sent a letter on Wednesday denying the request for a 2025 case list.
“Based on the evidence provided, [Krasner’s office] has met its burden of proving that records responsive to the Request do not exist within its possession, custody or control,” said the Office of Open Records in the letter.
Previous records requests revealed that former Immigration Counsel Caleb Arnold gave free consultations to migrants charged with murder, rape, and other violent offenses. Stefanie Costa is Krasner’s current immigration counsel.
Krasner’s office said in April that the office cannot comply with the latest records request because Costa’s “recordkeeping practices differ from those employed previously.”
The immigration counsel office was created by Krasner in 2018 and has reviewed more then 400 cases.
In a May 4 letter, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee wrote a letter requesting documents on all of the immigration counsel’s cases since 2018.
“Even in cases involving murder or crimes against minors, a prosecutor in your office may still consider a criminal alien’s potential deportation or other immigration consequences in making prosecution decisions. When your office is not openly favoring dangerous foreign nationals over U.S. citizens, it is using taxpayer dollars to coach outside legal professionals on the best strategies to help criminal aliens avoid immigration consequences for their criminality,” wrote Republican Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Tom McClintock of California.
In a statement issued on May 13, Krasner referred to the letter as an “untruthful, authoritarian propaganda campaign”.
“In my opinion, the letter makes plain a complete disregard by Jim Jordan and his party for victims who are increasingly denied justice because of current ICE practices.”
The probe by Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee comes as President Trump ramps up efforts against illegal immigration and cracks down on violent crime taking place across cities in the United States.
