Federal officials reportedly plan to offload warehouses, including those in Berks and Schuylkill counties, that were proposed as possible immigration detention centers.
According to a report from the New York Times, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials plan to sell or give away most of the seven warehouses bought to detain immigrants. Among those listed are warehouses in Upper Bern Township in Berks County and Tremont Township in Schuylkill County.
The warehouses were purchased for more than $700 million, and are reported to be either given to other federal agencies or sold outright.
“From day one, DHS has remained singularly focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the United States and is always evaluating the best methods to do so,” a DHS spokesperson said in an email to the Lebanon Daily News. “These heinous criminals, once arrested, should be removed at lightning speed, not housed on American soil at the taxpayer’s expense. DHS is moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners.”
In Berks County, federal officials bought a 518,000‑square‑foot building on Mountain Road in Upper Bern Township for $87 million, and it would have the capacity to detain 1,500 people. Another warehouse on Rausch Creek Road in Tremont Township was purchased for $120 million, and would have the capacity to detain 7,500 people.
Both residents and government officials have criticized the lack of transparency and engagement from ICE and DHS since the purchase of the buildings. Lebanon Daily News reporters visited the 3501 Mountain Road site multiple times, where many residents expressed concerns about having an ICE facility in their own backyard and what that might mean for local businesses.
DEP officials issued five administrative orders to DHS on March 5, two to the Department of Homeland Security, one to Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, one to Tremont Township, and one to Upper Bern Township. Officials said the orders direct that water and sewage cannot be supplied to the warehouses, and that the buildings cannot be occupied, until DHS demonstrates compliance with federal and state environmental regulations.
“In 2025, the annual average flow for the Tremont Wastewater Treatment Plant was approximately 394,000 gallons per day and additional hydraulic capacity has already been allotted to developments that have received planning approval and are under construction,” DEP said in its order. “DHS’s intended use of the warehouse at the Property to incarcerate 7,500 people would likely produce 450,000 to 1,000,000 gallons per day of sewage.”
DEP added that use of the Upper Bern warehouse at the property to incarcerate 1,500 people would likely produce 112,500 to 225,000 gallons of sewage per day.
Officials have not confirmed who the future owners of the warehouses could be, or when the transition or sale would occur.
