A handful of residents asked the Berks County Prison Board on Wednesday to reconsider its policy to comply with requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain individuals beyond their release date.
Counties are not required by law to comply with ICE detainer requests. Federal courts have ruled that these requests are voluntary and local officials can choose whether to honor them.
It has been a long-standing policy that the prison notifies ICE if someone enters the Berks County Jail System on criminal charges whom they know to be a foreign national, giving the federal agency the opportunity to file a temporary detainer. When prison officials are aware that the person will be released from jail, they alert ICE agents and, as a courtesy, give them four hours to come and detain the individual themselves.
But in April 2025, the prison board voted unanimously to increase the amount of time it would hold someone who is accused by ICE of being illegally in the U.S. It went to 24 hours from four hours, with the possibility of detainment in the jail up to 48 hours under extenuating circumstances.
Faced with the possibility of losing more than a quarter of a million dollars in annual federal funding for not cooperating with ICE, officials said the move was an attempt to balance compliance with detention requests and the rights of those being detained.
Interim Warden Stephanie Smith said the jail has 35 individuals in custody with immigration detainers, and that it discharged nine people to ICE in the last 30 days.
The board’s decision to detain people at ICE’s request has come under scrutiny by residents in recent months, with people showing up at monthly prison board meetings to voice their opposition.
At its meeting Wednesday morning, the topic arose again.
Crystal Kowalski, a longtime activist who lives in Wyomissing, asked the prison board to provide access to information regarding the charges filed against the individuals who have been turned over to ICE.
“I have submitted two Right-to-Know requests trying to get a list of the charges and those have been denied,” she said. “It was not made clear to me why you cannot share information on these federal detainer forms — understanding that I was not requesting any identifying information about specific individuals.”
Kowalski said she wants to see the charges filed against these individuals so she can be assured the federal administration is fulfilling its promise that ICE is focused on deporting those who President Donald Trump has called “the worst of the worst.”
When asked to explain the reasoning for the denials to the Right-to-Know requests, First Assistant County Solicitor Cody Kauffman told the board he believes federal law prohibits the county from sharing information included on detainer forms.
“I believe it goes on further to state that it should only be disclosed pursuant to federal law or the Freedom of Information Act, so I hope that helps explain the reason for the denials,” he said.
The Rev. Dennis Ritter also addressed the board, speaking about his moral concerns over the county cooperating with ICE.
He said there has been more than ample proof that ICE has used inhumane practices, including its use of warehouse-style detention centers. That behavior, he said, does not warrant the county cooperating with the agency.
“It’s concentration camps in warehouses that were meant to house things, not people,” the Lyons resident said.
Ritter said his faith is clear about the way people, including undocumented immigrants, should be treated.
“As a pastor, I can assure you that scripture is very clear in both the New and Old Testaments about what God expects of us, and that is to care for the stranger and foreigner among us as it reminds us time and again that we were once strangers and foreigners,” he said. “I just think right now we have a very lawless federal organization and the county is not obligated to participate with that kind of behavior.”
Wyomissing resident Jane Palmer asked if the board members are aware of individuals being detained in Berks for no other reason than because they are not citizens.
Berks County Judge Scott Lash, prison board chairman, clarified that the board is not involved in arresting people.
“We receive people who the police arrest for matters involving crimes committed in Berks County,” he said.
Palmer then asked if there is anyone in the county jail who is there only because they are undocumented.
Lash said he does not believe so.
“You are getting hosed by the federal government,” Palmer told the board. “Your power is being usurped and trampled on all the time now, and you’re just letting that happen. You are trying to protect people and they are simply taking them.
“It’s ridiculous that we don’t know what the charges are. We want to know what offense these nine people who were discharged to ICE last month were accused of. You should know this.”
Lisa Gallagher highlighted a recent decision by the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, which provides insurance for counties through the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, that would exclude liability coverage for a program that allows local law enforcement to partner with ICE.
The Spring Township resident said she worries that while the ruling does not include county jails that comply with ICE detainers, it may be something that the PCoRP board considers down the road.
“Cases have come up recently because of unlawful detention by ICE, not only is it a financial consideration and a financial risk but it is also a public relations disaster to bring that on us for something that we don’t have to participate in,” she said. “And I would just offer that stepping back from that might be the best course of action legally and morally.”
Commissioner Christian Leinbach challenged her comments, saying he wants to make sure everyone has the correct facts.
He said the ruling by PCoRP explicitly excludes detention agreements with the federal government through which counties house immigrants pending immigration proceedings.
The second point he made was about the process by which detainers get issued.
Leinbach said a background check is performed when individuals are arrested and brought into booking. ICE issues detainers when the agency reviews fingerprints sent electronically as part of the booking process.
Individuals will then go before a judge who determines whether they will go to jail or be let out on bail. If they go to jail, a second background check is performed and ICE is once again able to review that information.
“No one is coming into the system solely because they are an illegal alien,” he said. “I’m not aware of any law enforcement agencies in Berks County that are sending people to booking without any charges.”
District Attorney John Adams agreed, adding that when an individual is arrested and brought to booking there is a bail document filled out by the police and sheriff’s department.
“There is nothing on that sheet that asks the question of whether or not the person is a citizen of the United States,” he said.