READING, Pa. – After hearing from several Berks County residents opposed to the proposed ICE facility in Upper Bern Township, all three county commissioners addressed the concerns, as well as their frustration in not having the authority to control what could be happening.
Commissioner Christian Y. Leinbach said right now, the commissioners know very little and that he was only made aware of the situation when the County Recorder of Deeds contacted him Monday morning to inform him of the deed being recorded.
“We’ve had no comment or communication back from Homeland Security, either direct or indirect,” Leinbach said. “Indirect being through our representatives because this is a federal entity.”
On Feb. 2 it was reported that a 520,000-square-foot warehouse at 3501 Mountain Road in Upper Bern Township was sold to the U.S. government on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for $87.4 million.
The presumption is that the sale is for the purpose of converting the facility into an immigration detention center, but the commissioners said there is no confirmation of that.
All three commissioners thanked and commended residents for coming to the commissioner’s meeting Thursday morning to raise their concerns.
“You should be very concerned about the process and how this is fundamentally changing what the plan was (for the warehouse) and what was approved literally overnight, and ask the question, ‘what kind of an impact does that have’ and ‘what kind of a precedent does that set for this community’ ”, Leinbach said. “I’m gravely concerned about this. I’m not going to say we have no power to stop this because I don’t know that for certain.”
Commissioner Michael Rivera said he has been receiving numerous calls and emails blaming the commissioners for the purchase and demanding that the commissioners not allow it to open.
“I do want say that I value human dignity, due process and the safety of our residents,” Rivera said. “Just to be clear, I was not contacted by ICE. I was not notified; I was not consulted whether they should move forward with this or not. Something else that is important to understand is that we cannot stop the sale of a private property. We didn’t know about it until after it was done, but still, we cannot stop a sale that is a private transaction of land and property ownership.”
The commissioners further explained that in Pennsylvania, counties have no authority on local zoning and permitting issues, as they all fall back to the local municipality.
But Leinbach said that can be confusing because that is not the case in most other states where many of those issues are addressed at the county level.
Lower Alsace Township resident Rev. Nancy Omaha Boy said so many in the community are troubled by the detention center proposal.
“It doesn’t exist right now, and we are hoping that many of us will be able to work together to not make it exist,” Omaha Boy said. “What we would like from our leadership -from you- is every effort you can make to see that the laws are being applied, that the people being detained are legally served warrants and arrested legally.”
“I hope that we can keep this from happening” she added. “I think there are a lot of things where we, the citizens, feel that our personal values systems in a democracy and with our religious values, that a lot of these actions are in direct opposition, and for that reason we’re here to appeal to you in whatever way you can. To slow this down, stop it, change it, whatever is most appropriate because that’s why we’re here.”
County Solicitor Christine M. Sadler explained that the county legal staff is attempting to engage people who have contacts through the federal government system.
“A first step is to get confirmation of what exactly the intended use of the facility is,” Sadler said. “I know a lot of people have made assumptions about what it is, but until we get actual confirmation, I think from the county standpoint, we need to be very careful in terms of assumptions we make. I will do appropriate research and try to brainstorm with my staff to explore opportunities that the county has to pursue any action at the direction of the board.”
Several residents raised concerns about the potential loss of tax revenue in having the federal government own the property.
Leinbach clarified the amounts of tax revenue the building currently generates: $597,000 for the Hamburg School District, $199,619 for Berks County and $32,228 for Upper Bern Township.
Leinbach said he reached out to an expert at the National Association of Counties to see if the property would qualify for payment in lieu of taxes (PILT,) but was informed it would not because PILT only applies to federal public lands and that the type of building in question would be excluded.
Commissioner Dante Santoni, Jr. said the entire issue has nothing to do with whether people support law enforcement.
“We all support law enforcement,” he said. “Nobody here, I’m sure, is in support of having hardened criminals running around in our streets. This is not that.”
“One of the issues is the transparency, that we just haven’t heard anything about what the heck is going on with this facility, and it’s frustrating,” Santoni said. “I think we see what’s happening around the country though, and we could potentially see what’s going to happen on the streets of our community.”
Santoni said government officials and citizens need to speak to elected officials at the state and federal level to let them know that the county is not going to stand for this.
“We need to correct this problem in a bipartisan way,” Santoni added. “We need to fight for the rights of all people. It’s distressing to me that that this facility has chosen Berks County and I’m going to do everything I can to see what we can do to slow things down and possibly to stop it. We can band together and make a difference.”
City resident Eric Peterson said because the facility is a warehouse, it could bring a large Department of Homeland Security presence in Berks County.
“If you watch any video on their operations, you will see violent and unconstitutional behavior over and over, and the community is concerned,” Peterson said. “We’re looking to our local officials like you to meet this moment and take action. Public safety is not a given. People have found themselves in danger just by turning down the wrong road and running into an ICE raid and being taken away. Ice is creating the chaos. We need to be prepared for it.”