Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said that his administration will not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE.

“My administration will not be working with ICE,” the mayor said in response to a question from the audience at the PA Press Club luncheon on Monday. “We will do whatever is necessary to make our city more welcome. That’s what we’re built on.”

This is in response to President Donald Trump’s promise to deport immigrants who entered the United States illegally. On Sunday, ICE arrested 956 people alone, bringing the total numbers of arrests to over 2,600 since Trump’s inauguration.

Cities where arrests have unfolded include Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Miami, Atlanta and several cities in Texas.

“ICE is not going to end the situation of a failed immigration policy,” Gainey continued. “What it’s going to do is create more situations where people feel scared, where people don’t feel safe, where people will do things that they normally wouldn’t do. If the federal government wants to be serious about what they want to do to reform the immigration law, then they need to create a pathway to citizenship, and until they’re ready to roll up their sleeves, like mayors have to do throughout America, to change the dynamic of a city, change the dynamic of the federal legislation that demonstrates that you are creating a pathway.”

Gainey dodged a question about whether he supports the proposed merger between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, pointing out that it is a question for Allegheny County, not Pittsburgh. He did offer his support for County Executive Sara Innamorato and the decision that she makes on the issue.

He did call upon the city’s nonprofit businesses to pay their fair share in lieu of taxes.

“It’s not right that I have to continue to talk about or ask my residents to carry the to carry the load,” he said. “We’ve been in conversations with UPMC. We understand that at the end of the day that everybody should want to pay their fair share. They use our public safety. They use our police, our fire, our EMS. We’re not asking them to fund the budget. What has been the case is about value. There is nothing wrong with asking for a million dollars from an organization – a nonprofit entity – that makes millions and millions and millions of dollars a year. Asking for that is not wrong … not meeting the moment is.”

Gainey also referred to the new Pittsburgh as a technology city.

“You know, sometimes when I watch these commercials, they still got the smoke coming off the steel coming off the packs. We’re no longer a Steel City. We’re a technology city. Billions of dollars that went into the infrastructure, all major headquarters of technology companies are in our city. Any technology company that’s looking to advance their headquarters should come see us. We are open for business.”

He does want to see guns laws change, noting that “everything changes,” including his ability to dunk a basketball.

“You couldn’t get guns like you can get guns on the street (now) when I was a child, everything changes. Kids weren’t carrying around guns like they’re carrying around guns (now). I used to be able to dunk a basketball. I can’t dunk one now. Everything changes. So why do gun laws need to remain the same?”

The 54-year-old former state representative also spoke about the great strides he feels that the city of Pittsburgh has made over the last three years and his hopes for the future

“My administration chose to choose growth,” said Gainey, “and the reason we chose growth is because growth is better than success. We need to focus on growth. If we get growth, we have success.”

He expressed his pride that Fitch Ratings has raised Pittsburgh’s general obligation bond rating from AA- to AA – a sign of financial stability that leads to lower borrowing costs for the city, while Moody’s revised the city’s bond outlook to “positive” from “stable.”

“That’s what I meant be growth,” he said. “We know that our path to growth centers on increasing affordable housing, so that we don’t have to make a choice between development and it’s showing that we can keep Pittsburgh home. We never want to lose that Pittsburgh is home. When you come to our city, you feel like you are at home.”

Gainey also spoke on his administration’s efforts to serve those who have been ignored.

“We’ve invested in communities that had not seen investments, like Hazelwood, the historic Hill District, and Allentown that has not seen investments in years. We have also created generational wealth for families who have historically been shut out of the housing market.”

He also views the upcoming NFL draft on April 23-25 as an opportunity to show off his city.

“This is a huge opportunity for our city to showcase what we already know, that Pittsburgh is a great place to live, work and play,” said the Mayor. “It is an exciting time for us to come together and celebrate our community and its potential. We are grateful for the opportunity to host this prestigious event and I want to take a moment to thank the Rooneys for all that they’ve done to help bring this draft to the city of Pittsburgh. This is just one more step to revitalizing our downtown and showcasing to the world that Pittsburgh is right for investment and somewhere that people can call home.”

Gainey, who is seeking reelection, is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Allegheny County controller Corey O’Connor. Republican Tony Moreno, who was defeated by Gainey last cycle, has also declared that he intends to run.