(The Center Square) – A second Pennsylvania elected official has stated that plans for a pair of proposed ICE detention centers in Berks and Schuylkill counties are not moving forward.
“My office has been informed directly that DHS, under the leadership of Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has advanced immigration enforcement plans that will not include the proposed detention or processing centers in Berks or Schuylkill counties,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-9th District.
Meuser, an ally of President Donald Trump and his immigration policies, represents the district where the two proposed ICE detention centers were slated to be.
“The Administration’s plans evolved based on operational needs and, in large part, the extensive due diligence conducted by county and local officials, working alongside my office to ensure the best possible outcome for the community,” Meuser said. “The careful review of the proposed sites and engagement with DHS played an important role throughout this process. My office will provide an update upon learning of the definitive future plans for the sites.”
Meuser’s office sent out a press release on Monday with this development, although multiple outlets first reported the news on Friday.
The debate over the proposed detention centers had been ongoing in the state for several months.
The New York Times first reported on June 18 that ICE was planning to offload seven warehouses that were purchased by DHS 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. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s office said the proposal from DHS would have converted the facilities into 7,500 and 1,500-bed detention centers, respectively.
Following the New York Times report, Fetterman, who opposed the plan to build ICE detention centers, issued a statement on June 22 confirming the news.
“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.
While Fetterman was steadfast in his opposition to the proposal since February, Meuser struck a different tone over the course of the debate.
On March 30, Meuser’s office issued his first public statement about the purchase of the facilities by DHS, 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.”
Even last week, following Fetterman’s comments that the detention centers were not moving forward, Meuser questioned whether or not the plan was moving 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,” Meuser added on Wednesday. “Nevertheless, in an effort to fully cooperate, DHS is engaged in their own evaluation of the sites being developed.”
Although Meuser and Fetterman have commented on the future of the detention centers in recent weeks, other elected officials across the Commonwealth weighed in during the debate.
Gov. Josh Shapiro met with local officials in February and 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.”
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick has not issued a public statement on the future of those proposed ICE detention centers in recent weeks, but he 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.”
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.
