Bucks County commissioners unanimously oppose use of warehouses for ICE detention

Bucks County commissioners voted unanimously to oppose U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement establishing immigration detainee processing or detention facilities at warehouses within the county limits.

The resolution, approved Wednesday, cites “humanitarian concerns” related to human rights organizations’ reports of “alarming conditions” in ICE detention centers across the country.

The legislation also cites local land-use ordinances, stating that ICE detention centers in warehouses “not intended for human occupation” pose public health hazards and strain public safety services and local water and sewer systems.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees ICE, recently purchased a warehouse in nearby Berks County for possible use as an immigrant detention center.

Bucks County Commissioners Bob Harvie and Gene DiGirolamo said in the past week they received “credible” reports that DHS was considering warehouse facilities in Bensalem and Middletown townships.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks, said in a statement that his office reached out to DHS with constituents’ concerns about potential detention centers in the county. The agency told Fitzpatrick’s office that it has “no plans or intentions of opening an ICE detention facility within Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District.”

“When questions arise that impact our community, we address them directly, establish the facts, and ensure our community has clear and accurate information,” Fitzpatrick said in the statement.

Fitzpatrick said he opposes locating detention facilities in the county. In a Feb. 12 letter, Gov. Josh Shapiro told federal officials the state would not issue required permits for potential ICE detention facilities in Berks and Schuylkill counties.

DiGirolamo, the lone Republican on the board of commissioners, applauded Fitzpatrick’s statement and joined Democratic Commissioners Harvie and Diane Ellis-Marseglia in voting yes on the resolution.

“Bucks County is not a county that needs or wants a detention facility,” DiGirolamo said. “It is not appropriate for our county, not at all.”

Harvie said he recommended the resolution and is opposed to any ICE detention facility located in a warehouse.

“We have been down this road before, with Japanese Americans during World War II,” he said. “Most people don’t realize that there were Italian Americans detained during World War II in similar circumstances, because they were seen as untrustworthy, and segregated and discriminated against. At some point, we have to think back to who we are as a country and stand up for what’s right.”

The resolution does not prevent DHS from purchasing property in the county and converting it into ICE detention facilities, Harvie acknowledged. But it is a “small step,” he said, to halt the expansion of ICE detention centers.

“We’re going to do our best, especially working with local municipalities,” Harvie said. “We’re going to continue to keep our ears open and hope that we have the cooperation of property owners in this county and residents in this county who don’t want this in our county.”