A sitting county controller and U.S. House candidate maintains that a federal agency hasn’t paid its rent to Lehigh County since 2022, despite occupying office space owned by the government body.
Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, announced Tuesday that Homeland Security Investigations — which falls within the broader Immigration and Customs Enforcement framework at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — owes the county $115,426, not including late fees of $7,600.
“I don’t think as a county government we should be supporting anything like that,” said Pinsley. “We should deport ICE out of our building so that we’re not associated … We should be supporting our residents in every way that we can.”
Following Pinsley’s findings, newly elected county executive Josh Siegel said he would move to “evict” federal agents, according to the Morning Call.
Pinsley’s held his position since 2020 and ran unsuccessfully for state auditor general in 2024. He’s now in a crowded Democratic primary to challenge first-term U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Republican aligned with President Donald Trump. The Lehigh Valley’s 7th District is a perennial toss-up and closely watched by politicos nationwide.
He spoke to the Capital-Star Tuesday ahead of the announcement, tying a recommendation to issue an eviction notice with a repudiation of the federal agency’s recent actions in Minnesota and beyond.
The outsized presence of federal officials in Minneapolis has increased city tensions, prompting protests, mass arrests and networks of private citizens countering agency actions. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll found the majority believe ICE was being “too tough,” while 54% of those interviewed believed that immigration officer Jonathan Ross was “not justified” in the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Neither Homeland Security nor ICE immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Lehigh County isn’t among the agencies in the commonwealth that has a formal agreement to help ICE with immigration enforcement. The county’s policy is to cooperate with the agency “to the fullest extent legally possible.”
What happened?
In late 2022, Homeland Security Investigations signaled an intent to lease the fourth floor of Allentown’s Hamilton Financial Center, a 10-story building owned by Lehigh County. First, the two government agencies would sign a Memorandum of Agreement for ten months, followed by a three-year lease from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 31, 2026.
The former would net the county $29,250 while the latter would bring in another $111,745, according to an agreement attached to a Board of Commissioners meeting agenda from November 2022.
Commissioners didn’t spend more than five minutes discussing the agreement during its first reading on Nov. 9, 2022 or its final vote on Nov. 22, 2022.
“I think this would be a great opportunity with the county and Homeland Security and give us the opportunity to welcome them into our county,” said sponsoring commissioner Zakiya Smalls at the latter meeting.
But only the first document ever got the required signature from HSI, while the lease remained unsigned.
“Normally, once a contract gets signed, it goes into our computer system and then we know to expect revenue,” said Pinsley. “In this case, that never happened because it was never signed.”
Pinsley reported that the federal government told him that Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker “lacked proper authority” to sign the memorandum. At the time, media described Walker as a deputy special agent for Homeland in Philadelphia who oversaw investigations into sex and drug trafficking.
According to his LinkedIn, Walker was working as an acting assistant director when he left the agency in September 2025 to become a senior vice president at an anti-trafficking nonprofit.
Lehigh County’s Pinsley said that a tip to his office following a recent administration change at the county level brought the lack of payment to the forefront as the federal agency explores a new lease past the expiration of the original proposal — which he said could be signed with ICE, not HSI.
“I don’t think we should be housing HSI at all. It’s being run by (U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security) Kristi Noem, who I have no respect for,” Pinsley said. “I don’t care if they call it HSI or ICE. It doesn’t matter what the name is.”
Two of Pennsylvania’s 19 U.S. House members signed onto an effort to impeach Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, last week. Noem has repeatedly defended her agency’s actions, backtracking after initially claiming officers weren’t using chemical weapons like pepper spray against protesters. The effort would need Republican support, since the party holds the majority in both the House and Senate.
Next steps
Pinsley said he is “hopeful that we will be able to collect the money that is owed.”
“Ultimately, they did reside in our county and it was never meant to be free, and so they should have to pay,” said Pinsley. “I believe they should have to pay market rate, which is definitely above” the rate included under the unsigned lease.
Pinsley said he would also recommend that the county launch a database allowing locals to report alleged ICE misdeeds, such as the physical altercations or damage to personal property reported in Minneapolis.
He additionally called for “stability” in the nation’s immigration system that didn’t change from administration to administration, as well as a “path to citizenship” for “someone who’s been working here ten years and is paying taxes and is a good neighbor.”
“When (President Donald Trump) was talking about this, he was talking about violent felons. But we’re not going after violent felons — they’re going after grandma now,” said Pinsley. “And when they’re doing that, they’re causing a lot of fear. They’re tear gassing people; they’re using pepper balls; they’re putting on masks in American cities. I have no tolerance for that.”
According to December data analyzed by the New York Times, one-third of immigrants arrested by ICE have no history of criminal charges, compared to 7% with violent convictions.
In contrast, Mackenzie offered his support to ICE agents during a public appearance last week, telling the Lehigh Valley News that in the Good shooting, “When situations are in the heat of the moment, law enforcement has to take proper actions to keep themselves safe. That’s what this individual did.”
Democrats are targeting Mackenzie’s swing district seat in their effort to flip control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Along with Pinsley, six other Democrats are running for a chance to challenge Mackenzie:
- Bob Brooks, firefighter and president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association
- Former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell
- Bethlehem resident Aidan Gonzalez
- Former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure
- Former PPL Electrics Utilities executive Carol Obando-Derstine
- and Lewis Shupe
