Last week, the Trump Administration finalized the purchase of a warehouse in Berks County to be used as an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing and detention facility. The facility could reportedly hold up to 1,500 people, and is just one of 23 locations that are popping up nationwide, including another that’s in the works in Schuylkill County.
Officials in the Lehigh Valley are now pushing to keep these facilities away. A group of Lehigh County officials wrote an open letter last week to warehouse owners in the county urging them not to allow ICE to use their spaces for immigration centers.
In the letter, newly elected County Executive Josh Siegel said he was “asking property owners to stand with our community.” The letter was also signed by Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, Lehigh County Board of Commissioners Chair Geoff Brace, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, and multiple city council, township commission, and school board members.
Newly elected Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski has also joined the call, issuing a public letter on Tuesday to industrial developers, property owners, and real estate professionals. Zrinski expressed her belief that it is within the community’s reach and responsibility to deny these facilities. She emphasized that the region’s history is “one of neighborliness and courage” and that refusing these facilities in the region affirms that “growth will never come at the expense of human dignity.”
Local officials argue that allowing these facilities in the Lehigh Valley would stand in opposition to values of dignity, humanity, and mutual respect that define the region, which has a long history of welcoming immigrants.
