Lehigh County’s top financial elected official is calling for the eviction of ICE from county-owned property.
Mark Pinsley, the county controller, said the federal agency has been delinquent on three years of rent for county-owned office space. He added the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also never completed a valid lease.
“We found that they haven’t been paying for nearly three years and they’ve been occupying space,” Pinsley said. “And because of what’s going on in Minneapolis and other places, I don’t believe that we should be housing or helping them in any form or fashion.”
Pinsley, who on Tuesday urged county officials to get behind the demands on ICE, is calling for the agency to make immediate payment of more than $115,000 in unpaid rent and termination of all negotiations with DHS.
Pinsley also is calling for the eviction of the federal immigration enforcement agency from county property and accountability for county officials who allowed the arrangement to persist.
“They owe us money, and I believe that they should pay,” said Pinsley, who is serving a second term as county controller. “Pay your bill. Pack your stuff and get out. I don’t believe that we should sign a contract at this point or a lease agreement with them at all. These guys are, in my opinion, are terrorizing neighborhoods, and I believe they’re terrorizing our residents. We as the county government should not be partaking in that at all. We saw what happened in Minneapolis. Innocent lives have been destroyed. People have been killed.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
Amid an unprecedented effort by the Trump administration to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, federal immigration agents by the thousands have been dispatched to U.S. cities, including Chicago, Charlotte, Los Angeles, and most notably Minneapolis, resulting in mass protests, violence and even death.
ICE agents have flooded the streets of Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul, leading to the Jan 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent. One week later, an ICE officer shot a man in the leg during an attempted arrest. Violent protests have erupted across both cities.
The terms of the rental agreement were executed under former county executive Phil Armstrong.
Josh Siegel, a former state lawmaker from the 22nd House District, was elected Lehigh County Executive last year. Democrats have a 7-2 majority on the board of commissioners.
Siegel did not immediately return a PennLive request for comment; neither did the two Republican commissioners.
Pinsley said ICE maintains a presence across Lehigh Valley. Latinos account for a significant and growing demographic in the Lehigh Valley, including upwards of 50% of the population in cities like Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading.
The region broadly reflects the political landscape of Pennsylvania with Democratic urban centers surrounded by swing suburbs and more conservative rural areas.
“They’re in our courts on a regular basis,” Pinsely said. “They’re in our courtrooms…in our court building. They’ve been down at some of the work sites. They were at the Home Depot not so long ago.”
Pinsley notes that county taxpayers have absorbed the cost of utilities, maintenance, and operational costs, instead of the federal agency.
He said the situation dates back three years when an agreement was reached between the county and DHS that the agency would rent the space. Pinsley said the agreement was fast tracked, suggesting an immediate need. He said that at the time a memorandum of agreement was executed. Pinsley said the DHS signatory did not have the authority to sign the agreement.
Pinsley said the discrepancy came to light recently with the change of the guard at the top of county government.
He said that at some point “there was just a lot of back and forth that was happening trying to get the contract signed. And in the end it was never signed.”