Congresswoman Houlahan talks AI data centers, ICE and federal shutdown in annual address

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U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Chester County, on Tuesday denounced a recent increase in immigration enforcement actions in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District.

Masked agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested two men Feb. 3 in a parking lot in Phoenixville, yanking one of the individuals from their vehicle in a chaotic scene.

The “plight of the people” that the country witnessed in Minneapolis has reached Chester County, Houlahan said during her seventh annual State of the Sixth address.

“ICE arrests were carried out in this community, and they’ve shaken families and raised fear and confusion, including among people who have lived and worked here peacefully for years and sometimes decades,” Houlahan said at the historic Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.

Partisan disagreements over proposed reforms for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could push the federal government into yet another partial shutdown.

“We need reform,” Houlahan said. “We are a nation of immigrants, but ICE is clearly not reform. ICE is undertrained. ICE is vastly, vastly overfunded. They have a budget that is larger than many countries’ entire defense budgets.”

The deadline for Congress to reach a deal on appropriations for the agency that oversees ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection is Feb. 13.

Houlahan skeptical of AI data centers

ICE recently purchased a massive warehouse in neighboring Berks County for the potential use as an immigration detention center. The move prompted outcry from community advocates and elected officials, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Houlahan called the concept of detention centers “disturbing.” She said she’s unsure what can be done to stop the federal government, because the sale was a private transaction of private property.

Attendees also asked Houlahan about her thoughts on AI data centers. Shapiro has thrown his support behind the construction of such sites in Pennsylvania, citing the potential of increased tax revenue and jobs. Houlahan said that she doesn’t know enough about the topic. She said she’d need to learn more.

“My intuition is that this is not a good fit for our community for lots of different reasons,” Houlahan said. “But I also would say that we need to make sure that if and when data centers show up wherever they show up — because they’re going to show up — that they’re paying their share and that we’re not bearing the cost as individuals to the cost of them making their business work.”

Houlahan also criticized the Trump administration for hollowing out federal agencies while households face rising costs across the board. She said Berks and Chester counties are feeling the effects of Trump’s tariff policies.

“It’s estimated that the cost of a new home is up by about $10,900 on average because of the tariffs that have been imposed on some of the building supplies that we need to build our homes,” she said.

With midterm elections around the corner, Houlahan said she shares the same worries as some audience members that the Trump administration could attempt to nationalize voting. Critics of such a move fear it could lead to a constitutional crisis. Article 1, Section 4, of the Constitution grants states the power to run elections — not the president.

“Our democracy is not self-executing,” Houlahan said. “It doesn’t just run on its own and you set it and let it go. It really requires exactly what we’re doing here, which is participation. It requires listening, it requires learning, it requires accountability. I am accountable to you. It requires courage as well. We need to be as courageous as we possibly can be and put ourselves in uncomfortable places.”

Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District includes all of Chester County and parts of Berks County.