(The Center Square) – A pair of proposed ICE detention centers in Berks and Schuylkill counties may be sold by the Department of Homeland Security, though at least one Pennsylvania congressman has cast doubt on whether the deal will move forward.
First reported by the New York Times on June 18, the development comes after months of intense debate in the commonwealth, leaving a pair of lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle appearing to hint at different futures for the warehouses.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Monday sent out a public statement responding to the New York Times report.
“I’m pleased to confirm ICE will not be moving forward with detention facilities in Tremont and Upper Bern Townships,” Fetterman wrote. “I appreciate that Secretary Mullin recognized the negative impacts these facilities would have in Pennsylvania-including the direct threat to local economies and infrastructure-and cancelled these plans.”
“I will continue to work toward solutions with the administration and my Senate colleagues that properly address the broken immigration system while ensuring that our communities and law-abiding migrants are safe and protected,” he added.
However, U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-9th District, who represents the district where the two warehouses are located, believes that the initial plan could still move forward.
“Upon learning of the purchase, I along with the Schuylkill and Berks county commissioners, met with DHS officials. We engaged in due diligence of what would be necessary to make the facilities operable and address community concerns,” Meuser said in a statement to the Center Square on Wednesday. “This due diligence, and I give much credit to the County commissioners, was taken very seriously by DHS officials, and therefore, DHS is perhaps considering reevaluating the initial plan.”
“Should the initial plan move forward, we secured favorable commitments from DHS that would be beneficial to our community,” he added. “Nevertheless, in an effort to fully cooperate, DHS is engaged in their own evaluation of the sites being developed. I remain in close contact with Secretary Mullin and look forward to providing a full update once a decision is made and we have details on how this will impact our community.”
Last Thursday, the New York Times reported that ICE is planning to offload seven warehouses that were purchased by the agency by either giving them to other federal agencies or selling them outright. This included two warehouses in Pennsylvania, which were slated to become ICE detention centers.
The two facilities, located in Tremont Township and Upper Bern Township, were purchased by DHS in February. Fetterman’s office said the proposal from DHS would convert the facilities into 7,500 and 1,500-bed detention centers, respectively.
The warehouses were purchased for a combined $207 million, according to multiple media reports, including ABC27.
Spotlight PA reported on Feb. 26 that an ICE spokesperson said the agency expected the facilities to create 11,000 jobs and bring in more than $283.4 million in tax revenue, although it is unclear how the agency arrived at that estimate.
However, in that same report, some local officials expressed concern about the impact it would have on public services in their community.
Fetterman, who was one of two Democrats to vote to confirm Mullin to lead DHS, was outspoken in his opposition to those proposed ICE detention centers.
In February, Fetterman wrote a letter to then-DHS Sec. Kristi Noem expressing his “deep concern and opposition” to the plan after the agency purchased the two warehouses to turn into detention centers.
“While I have been clear in my support for the enforcement of federal immigration law, this decision will do significant damage to these local tax bases, set back decades-long efforts to boost economic development, and place undue burdens on limited existing infrastructure in these communities,” Fetterman wrote in early February.
In that same letter, Fetterman requested that DHS and ICE provide “a briefing for his office on the criteria used to select viable properties for conversion into detention centers, including specific details on the decision to purchase the Tremont and Upper Bern Township properties; a detailed impact assessment addressing infrastructure, public safety, public health, economic development, and fiscal concerns for these communities; a commitment that federal funds will cover all necessary infrastructure upgrades and ongoing costs associated with these facilities; and a commitment to a period of public engagement and dialogue with these communities.”
In late April, Fetterman re-upped his call to DHS, after Mullin took the helm, in opposing the ICE detention centers.
Meuser struck a different tone from the Democratic senator over the course of the debate.
His office issued his first public statement about the purchase of the facilities by DHS on March 30, according to the Shamokin News-Item, telling them that DHS has “committed to preventing disruption and improving Schuylkill and Berks counties as it makes plans to operate two ICE detention processing facilities in both counties.”
Although Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, did not respond to a request for comment from The Center Square about this news on Wednesday, the two have offered differing opinions about the proposed ICE detention centers.
In February, while meeting with local officials, Shapiro said that he would “do everything in his legal and regulatory power” to keep the facilities out of the commonwealth.
“We have put the federal government on notice that it is going to be very hard, if not possible, for them to go ahead and build these detention centers in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said during an interview on WURD in late April. “They need permits and other approvals from my administration, and we made very clear where we stand on that. I do not want these detention centers in Pennsylvania, and I will not allow this cruelty to take root here.”
Earlier this month, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis also shared a similar message, telling a gathering of progressives in Pennsylvania that “we’re going to use our power to halt the plans for the proposed ICE warehouse detention centers in Berks and Schuylkill counties from moving forward, because our immigrant communities shouldn’t have to live in fear – fear of going to work, seeking medical care, picking up their kids from school.”
McCormick told The Center Square on March 31 that he was in touch with citizens in the region of the proposed detention centers and spoke with those who supported and opposed the plan.
“My view on this is we have to look at those in the totality of the economic opportunity and what it brings to those communities,” McCormick said on March 31 . “And I also think that the communities are appropriately going to have a discussion about those pros and cons.”
He told The Center Square on March 31 that he hadn’t taken a formal position on it as he’s still gathering more information. When pressed about what he’s heard more from people – opposition or support – he said “it’s hard to tell.”
