{"id":113439,"date":"2026-02-13T22:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T22:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/113439\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T22:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T22:51:10","slug":"neighbors-of-planned-ice-detention-center-in-berks-county-say-opposition-crosses-political-lines-berks-regional-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/113439\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbors of planned ICE detention center in Berks County say opposition crosses political lines | Berks Regional News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was produced by\u00a0the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA<\/a>, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at\u00a0spotlightpa.org\/newsletters\/gooddayberks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPPER BERN \u2014 When Cindy Rightmyer found out the Trump administration spent $87.4 million on an empty Berks County warehouse to use as an immigration detention center, she was shocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrive around, and the one sign you\u2019ll see is \u2018No Warehouses,\u2019 and that\u2019s probably the consistent sign,\u201d said Rightmyer, a precinct committee chair with the county Democratic Committee. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not political \u2014 it just says no warehouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

While President Donald Trump overwhelmingly won blink-and-you\u2019ll-miss-it Upper Bern Township in 2024, residents across the political spectrum told Spotlight PA they were shocked and angry to learn of the purchase.<\/p>\n

In the days since the sale became public,\u00a0local leaders<\/a>, as well as Democrats\u00a0Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. Sen. John Fetterman<\/a>, have criticized the move. They\u2019ve voiced many of the same concerns as residents, citing a lack of transparency and existing infrastructure, as well as the damage it could do to the local tax base.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a bipartisan issue,\u201d said Debra Fisher. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter your affiliation. If you live here, you\u2019re going to have to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fisher serves on the township\u2019s zoning board and declined to share her party affiliation, noting her main concerns were water and sewage, as well as impacts to the nearby stream and wetlands. Her property on Schoolhouse Road backs up to the warehouse, an imposing, blocky white structure with gray and blue accents situated at the top of a hill next to an Amazon distribution center.<\/p>\n

\"Through<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From Deb Fisher\u2019s window, you can see the warehouse the Trump administration bought to use as an ICE detention facility.<\/p>\n

Margo Reed \/ For Spotlight PA<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a lot more information,\u201d she said when asked about the zoning board\u2019s potential role. \u201cI doubt you can supersede the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The township off Interstate 78 has a population of less than 2,000 people. Initial reports indicate the detention center could have up to 1,500 beds, rapidly expanding Upper Bern\u2019s population. Many, including Fetterman and Republican County Commissioner Christian Leinbach, have publicly expressed concern that this growth could\u00a0overwhelm<\/a>\u00a0local resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are strictly infrastructure,\u201d Rightmyer said of opposition to ICE\u2019s plan. \u201cFor other people, it was moral \u2026 And, I\u2019m like, whatever it takes for people to want to push back, go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear if anything can be done to block the detention center. Shapiro recently said options are “fairly slim” because the federal government is the purchaser.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, the local government, who will likely have some permitting power here, hopefully they don’t approve these permits, they don’t allow the federal government to build this facility, and we’re going to be working closely with our local partners on that front to see if it can be stopped,\u201d Shapiro said during an early February news conference.<\/p>\n

Rightmyer said the committee is looking at what other communities have done in this situation, noting plans to convert more than 20 other similar facilities into detention centers across the country.<\/p>\n

“I just want to work with wherever [residents] are at and help with,” she said. “If we can slow-walk permits, if we can slow-walk anything happening, and if that’s the way to do it, then go for that.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The warehouse at 3501 Mountain Road in Upper Bern Township that the Trump admin purchased for an ICE detention facility.<\/p>\n

Margo Reed \/ For Spotlight PA<\/p>\n

Over the past few decades, Upper Bern Township has lost several of its small businesses that attracted tourists and interstate travelers. It lost Roadside America, a popular tourist destination nearly a century old, and Haag\u2019s Hotel, known for its Pennsylvania Dutch food. Before that, the historic Shartlesville Hotel shuttered, an anchor lost.<\/p>\n

The Blue Mountain Family Restaurant is one of the last small businesses still standing, located right off the interstate. With colorful hex signs hung on the outside walls, intricate quilt squares tacked up within, and hot bacon dressing advertised on the well-stocked salad bar, it’s homey and welcoming, acting as a meeting place for residents.<\/p>\n

Rumors were circulating among customers the week before the purchase went through, said Ted Perezous, the owner and manager. But when it was confirmed, he was surprised.<\/p>\n

A registered independent who said he\u2019d rather decide his political positions on an issue-by-issue basis rather than affiliate with Democrats or Republicans, he listed his questions to a Spotlight PA reporter: Is it a long-term detention center? Is it transitional? Who is going to be there? Is it families? Is it co-ed? Is it children?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cAll those things would, once those are crystallized, my opinion will be more crystallized as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perezous said he\u2019s feeling “overwhelming apprehension,\u201d and doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho wants, even if it was done in plain view and transparency, who wants a detention center in their backyard?\u201d he asked. \u201cNobody does, even if it’s just a normal prison. Take away the political implications of it. No one wants a prison, a detention center, in their backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the shadow of the warehouse at Mountain Springs Camping Resort, Estella Lamey said the plan was \u201cterrible, just terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a neighbor, as a resident of the township, we don\u2019t have the capacity to deal with this,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re all in favor of criminals coming off the streets, but when they\u2019re coming to arrest a neighbor whose skin is a little darker than mine? This isn\u2019t the America I grew up in.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a previously scheduled town hall on Wednesday, Berks County Commissioners fielded questions \u2014 and outrage \u2014 about the warehouse. More than 80 people gathered at the Bethel-Tulpehocken Public Library for a type of meeting that usually draws around 20 people.<\/p>\n

Attendees wanted to know if and how the commissioners would stand against the detention center, how they would support Upper Bern supervisors, and how they would keep Berks County from turning into another\u00a0\u201cOperation Metro Surge.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Leinbach, the chair and longest-serving member, and Commissioner Michael Rivera declined to voice a final opinion on the detention center. They each said they needed to know more about the project: Who would operate the center? How many people would be there? Would it take resources from the neighboring community?<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Leinbach, I\u2019m going to argue real quick when you said \u2018don\u2019t paint ICE with a broad brush.\u2019 Tell that to the\u00a0Good<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pretti<\/a>\u00a0families in Minnesota,\u201d one community member said in reference to a previous comment from Leinbach telling attendees not to view all ICE agents in the same way.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Dante Santoni, the only Democrat on the panel, broke from his colleagues and said he could not imagine learning new information that would make him support the detention center.<\/p>\n

While the lack of information persists, Rightmyer said she still feels like she has some say, and maybe even the power to slow down the plan, possibly through the permitting process. She\u2019s encouraging residents to contact local leaders and representatives to express their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still a democracy. There\u2019s still free speech,\u201d Rightmyer said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s up to me as a concerned citizen to take advantage of what\u2019s available \u2014 township meetings, town halls, anywhere. That\u2019s my responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotlight PA\u2019s Hanna Holthaus contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was produced by\u00a0the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":{"0":"post-113439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-reading-city","9":"tag-reading-city-headlines","10":"tag-reading-city-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}