Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a Republican who represents the Lehigh Valley in Congress, said at a press event Thursday that he is not aware of any ICE detention facilities planned in the district he represents.
He also told The Morning Call that he reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for more information about any plans for detention facilities nearby.
Mackenzie’s comments come as ICE recently purchased warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill counties.
“We are not aware of any facilities that would be built here in the Lehigh Valley. We did reach out yesterday to ask for more information, so hopefully we will be able to get that soon,” Mackenzie said.
Mackenzie also criticized Democrats for an ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding impasse. Funding for the department lapsed on Saturday after Democrats declined to support a stop-gap bill, leaving much of the department working without pay.
Democrats have demanded a series of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement following outrage over immigration operations in Minnesota that left two American citizens dead and over 3,000 people arrested, and prompted widespread protests and civil unrest across the state.
Democrats’ demands include banning ICE agents from concealing their identities with masks, tightening requirements for immigration arrest warrants; and banning ICE agents from sensitive locations like schools and churches. So far, the two parties have not been able to come to an agreement.
Mackenzie said he is “very open” to ICE reforms, though he did not say whether he supported any of the Democrats’ specific proposals. At a congressional hearing earlier this month, Mackenzie asked Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons for more transparency about how and why U.S. citizens are arrested by ICE agents.
Over 170 US citizens were detained by ICE in the first nine months of 2025, according to reporting from ProPublica.
“Greater transparency could be beneficial for both the American public and everyone involved here,” Mackenzie said at the hearing.
Because Republicans boosted funding for ICE and border patrol via the One Big Beautiful Bill, the agencies that are hit hardest by the shutdown are agencies unrelated to immigration enforcement, like the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mackenzie said.
“That is what Democrats are holding up at this point in time. I think it is very irresponsible. I voted to keep the government open. We should continue to do that going forward,” Mackenzie said.
Mackenzie made the comments at a press conference touting a $2 million federal investment he secured for the Lehigh Valley International Airport, which will fund a proposed parking deck and pedestrian walkway connected to the airport.
Officials will break ground on the deck in September, according to Tom Stoudt, Executive Director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority.