Shapiro uses permitting powers to stall Pa. ICE detention centers

Gov. Josh Shapiro promised that his administration would use his regulatory authority to block ICE from building detention facilities in rural Berks and Schuylkill counties. 

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration is moving forward with their promises to prevent the US Department of Homeland Security from converting two massive warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill counties into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. 

The two detention centers, which are designed to house at least 9,000 immigrants when they are fully operational, have drawn scrutiny and criticism from local and state leaders in those impacted areas. 

On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a series of administrative orders directed at DHS and local authorities stating that the buildings cannot be used by DHS until the agency demonstrates that they’re compliant with federal and state environmental regulations.   

“Based on what the Department has learned about DHS’s plans to convert two commercial warehouses into detention centers for 9,000 people, there are serious concerns about the environmental impacts of these actions,” DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement.

“The conversion of warehouses to detention facilities risks harming the communities in and around Tremont and Upper Bern townships, overwhelming their sewage facilities and exceeding the available drinking water supply.”

At a press conference in Berks County late last month, Shapiro warned that the townships where the proposed DHS facilities are located do not have the infrastructure in place to handle the increased water and sewage needs. 

“ We know, for example, in Tremont that if this is built, they will literally run out of water within 24 hours,” Shapiro said.

“Let me explain what that means to the average homeowner nearby on that system. That means that they literally won’t be able to turn on the water in their kitchen and fill up a pot of water. They won’t be able to flush the toilet.”

Tremont, a small rural community in Schuylkill County, is home to 700 residents, but DHS officials want to detain roughly 7,500 immigrants in a former Big Lots warehouse there, which would overload the local infrastructure. 

“Doubling the populations of these areas could drain drinking water sources and lead to polluted waterways from overwhelmed sewage facilities leaking raw waste into our streets and rivers. Just like anyone else, DHS needs to demonstrate its facilities comply with environmental standards,” Shirley added.

The DEP issued five separate orders to DHS, Upper Bern Township, Tremont Township, and the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority (SCMA).

According to the DEP, the orders state the following:

• DHS from using Upper Bern or SCMA sewer systems until it has been proven that DHS can safely do so.
• Prohibits occupancy in the Tremont and Upper Bern facilities until sewage planning and permitting is obtained by the DEP and prohibits the townships from accepting sewage from holding tanks or portable toilets without authorization. 
• Prohibits SCMA from providing drinking water to the proposed Tremont detention center.

“I’m going to do everything in my legal power and my regulatory power to see to it that these facilities are not cited here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said.