Where has ICE been in the Lehigh Valley? – The Lafayette

A large Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest in the Lehigh Valley took place after a fire broke out at a Bethlehem apartment building, shown here. (Photo courtesy of The Morning Call)

Along with the rest of the nation, the Lehigh Valley has experienced an increase in the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and arrests in President Donald Trump’s second term. Here’s where the federal organization has been reported regionally this past year.

Allentown

At the start of last year, The Muhlenberg Weekly — the student newspaper of its namesake college — reported that a student was detained by ICE before being released. Local police and government said they were unaware of ICE in the city, and the Weekly released a letter from the editor soon after in response to criticism of the story regarding confirmation of the account.

Local newspaper The Morning Call also came under fire last summer, after reporting that an Allentown man from Chile was taken into custody by ICE and deported to Guatemala. Both ICE and the Guatemalan government refuted the story; the article relied on family accounts that were later contradicted by Chilean media.

Last year, Allentown City Council voted unanimously to deem Allentown a “welcoming city,” a policy that bars local law enforcement from supporting or coordinating with ICE unless ordered by a federal judge. Both Bethlehem and Easton have resisted adopting the policy, but claim to uphold the welcoming nature of their communities, despite some resident pushback. 

Earlier in January, the Department of Homeland Security was evicted from an Allentown office after failing to pay rent for several years.

Bethlehem

Most prominently, 17 workers repairing a burned apartment building in Bethlehem were arrested last June for “immigration violations,” triggering community protests that saw hundreds of demonstrators. 

Lehigh University in Bethlehem also made headlines last April when a Palestinian student who was attending Columbia University was detained by ICE in Vermont and eventually released.

Easton

Early last year, a Venezuelan man was arrested by ICE for entering the country without inspection at Northampton County Prison in Easton. He was previously arrested by Bethlehem police early last year and was serving time for indecent assault without consent, indecent assault on a minor and harassment. The situation prompted ICE to accuse Northampton County of not cooperating with the federal organization in the arrest, which county officials denied.

Another man was arrested in Easton in July by ICE to face homicide charges in Honduras, his native country.

What to know

Pennsylvania Rapid Response has established a hotline for reporting ICE activity within Lehigh County. The organization encourages individuals to contact 610-850-9930 to report local ICE operations.