As ICE expands its footprint, DHS is leasing a high-end office space on the Main Line

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is leasing an upscale working space at Westlakes Office Park in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

The office park comprises four building complexes on West Lakes Drive and sits on prime real estate along U.S. Route 202 in Chester County. Amenities on the 40-acre property include an on-site gourmet cafe, a lakeview patio, a fitness center and a walking trail.

WIRED first reported that DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are leasing an office space at 1000 Westlakes Drive as part of a broader expansion campaign across the country. JLL is the leasing company behind the listing. Accesso is the property manager.

“We have signed a lease with the Department of Homeland Security,” a spokesperson on behalf of the property said in a statement. “However, it is inaccurate to say this is an ICE office – the space will not house ICE agents or support their operations. It is strictly for back-office officials, such as lawyers and analysts.”

The Westlakes Office Park is approximately a mile away from Hillside Elementary School. The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for state Rep. Melissa Shusterman, whose district encompasses Easttown, Schuylkill, Tredyffrin and Willistown townships, referred WHYY News to a previous comment she made regarding ICE.

“I am a state representative and have limited legislative options to bring ICE under control,” Shusterman wrote. “But, I am also a citizen who will not stand for my communities and neighbors being put in danger. We will not stand by idly as families are traumatized. We will not be silent. We will insist on law and order and stand with our local and state police who live in the communities they serve.”

DHS, the agency that oversees ICE, recently purchased a massive warehouse in Berks County for possible use as a detention center.

In response to questions about the Berwyn property and WIRED’s report that ICE would be leasing space at 801 Arch St. in Philadelphia, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement that the agency “will not confirm office locations as our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them.”

“Is it really news that when a federal agency hires more personnel that they need more space?” the statement reads. “Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country. That’s a 120% increase in our workforce.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Chester County, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, whose district includes the Arch Street property, said in a statement that he is “concerned by any hint that ICE could next lay siege to Philadelphia after all it has done to Minneapolis.”

“We need to rein in ICE before one more American is harmed,” he added.

Boyle has joined other House Democrats in demanding ICE reform in the DHS funding legislation, and calling for the removal of Kristi Noem as head of the department.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the statement on the office’s use is on behalf of the property.