Published February 25. 2026 10:30AM<\/p>\n
Executive calls on developers to reject immigration detention expansion<\/p>\n
Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski has issued a public letter urging industrial developers, property owners and real estate professionals to refuse any sale or lease of county property to the federal government or its contractors for the purpose of immigration detention.<\/p>\n
In the letter, Zrinski called on local leaders to \u201caffirm our community\u2019s shared values of dignity, justice and inclusion\u201d by rejecting participation in activities that enable the expansion of immigration detention facilities. The message appeals to conscience and civic duty, she said, emphasizing that economic development should \u201cstrengthen lives rather than diminish them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen property in our county is used for immigration detention, it does not happen elsewhere,\u201d Zrinski said. \u201cIt happens here, in our name, under the shadow of our shared community. We have both the power and the responsibility to prevent harm when it is within our reach to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The executive\u2019s letter emphasized that supporting or facilitating immigration detention operations undermines Northampton County\u2019s commitment to human rights, social justice and responsible development.<\/p>\n
Residents, developers and community members can read the full statement on Substack and add their name in support through Change.org. The letter will also be shared by the Department of Economic Development and other county partners to ensure broad community awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur region\u2019s story has always been one of neighborliness and courage \u2014 of choosing the harder right over the easier wrong,\u201d Zrinski said. \u201cIn refusing participation in the detention industry, we affirm that Northampton County\u2019s growth will never come at the expense of human dignity.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, I refuse to pretend that the quiet acquisition of warehouse or industrial space in Northampton County is a neutral act,\u201d she added. \u201cIt is likely only the beginning of something far more troubling. These facilities could enable ICE and its partners to conduct operations that bring fear and intimidation into the heart of our neighborhoods, changing the character of the place we call home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published February 25. 2026 10:30AM Executive calls on developers to reject immigration detention expansion Northampton County Executive Tara…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-123166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123166","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=123166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}