{"id":123971,"date":"2026-02-26T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/123971\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:20:08","slug":"will-pennsylvania-sue-to-block-ice-detention-centers-spotlight-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/123971\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Pennsylvania sue to block ICE detention centers? \u2022 Spotlight PA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>READING \u2014 Maryland\u2019s attorney general is suing the federal government to prevent ICE from converting a warehouse into an immigration detention center.<\/p>\n<p>But in Pennsylvania, where the Department of Homeland Security and ICE are planning two similar projects in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, it remains unclear if state officials will do the same.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlightpa.org\/berks\/2026\/02\/ice-detention-center-burden-federal-government\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the proposed detention centers and processing facilities<\/a> would would be \u201cviolating the rights of Pennsylvanians, increasing utility costs, harming our economy, and making the Commonwealth less safe,\u201d and that the administration \u201cwill aggressively pursue every option to prevent these facilities from opening and needlessly harming the good people of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the administration did not directly address whether it would pursue a lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland\u2019s attorney general alleges DHS and ICE violated a federal environmental protection law and procedural standards when buying warehouses in the state.<\/p>\n<p>The suit largely focuses on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which mandates that federal agencies assess the environmental impact of proposed projects \u2014 such as approving permits, constructing highways and other government-owned facilities, or other \u201cmajor federal actions\u201d \u2014 before initiating them.<\/p>\n<p>The suit also alleges that the federal government \u201cfailed to exhibit the reasoned decision-making\u201d required by a federal administrative procedure law.<\/p>\n<p>ICE had previously said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.nh.gov\/sites\/g\/files\/ehbemt971\/files\/media\/media_document\/merrimack-nh-detention-reengineering-initiative-final.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">memo<\/a> sent to New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte that it was complying with NEPA when building all its detention infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>The agency has not released details on how it plans to use the warehouses it purchased in Berks and Schuylkill Counties. ICE has also not responded to specific questions about whether it has already conducted engineering and environmental assessments for the properties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSites will undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase,\u201d an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Two environmental lawyers who spoke to Spotlight PA said they\u2019re unsure if ICE broke NEPA requirements when it bought the Pennsylvania warehouses. They weighed in on condition of anonymity because of the political nature of the issue.<\/p>\n<p>ICE could argue that purchasing warehouses doesn\u2019t qualify as a major federal action and thus does not fall under NEPA\u2019s jurisdiction. Another possibility is that ICE argues it still has time to conduct an environmental impact study before the project significantly gets underway and the government makes an \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/sites\/faa.gov\/files\/about\/office_org\/headquarters_offices\/apl\/16-irreversible.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">irreversible commitment<\/a>\u201d under federal law.<\/p>\n<p>One difference between Pennsylvania and Maryland is that the former\u2019s attorney general, Dave Sunday, is a Republican.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Sunday declined to comment on \u201cany potential actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sunday wouldn\u2019t necessarily have to sign off on any suit, however. The Shapiro administration told Spotlight PA that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pa.gov\/agencies\/ogc\/about-ogc-home\/who-we-represent\/commonwealth-attorneys-act\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Commonwealth Attorneys Act<\/a> gives the governor legal authority to represent his own office and state agencies in litigation.<\/p>\n<p>The two environmental lawyers also told Spotlight PA that nothing stops Pennsylvania from pursuing a suit similar to Maryland\u2019s, whether one is filed by Shapiro or Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>This wouldn\u2019t be the first time Shapiro has sued the federal government, while Sunday took no action.<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro has sued the Trump administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.witf.org\/2025\/08\/08\/here-are-gov-shapiros-lawsuits-against-the-trump-administration-this-year\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">over a dozen<\/a> times since the president\u2019s second term, including to unfreeze $2 billion in federal funds last year after Sunday did not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wesa.fm\/politics-government\/2025-02-28\/pa-trump-shapiro-sunday-lawsuit\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While You\u2019re Here<\/p>\n<p>Spotlight PA\u2019s nonprofit reporting is a free public service, but it depends on your support. Give now to ensure it can continue.<\/p>\n<p>DHS\u2019s quiet purchase of two vacant warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill Counties earlier this month sparked anxiety among local residents and caught local officials off guard.<\/p>\n<p>In recent county and municipal meetings in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvia.org\/news\/local\/2026-01-30\/plans-for-ice-detention-center-in-schuylkill-county-draw-angry-concerned-residents-to-town-hall\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">both<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlightpa.org\/berks\/2026\/02\/ice-detention-center-burden-federal-government\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">places<\/a>, some residents have urged local elected leaders to take stronger actions to block DHS\u2019s plans to convert the warehouses into massive processing and detention facilities. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlightpa.org\/berks\/2026\/02\/ice-detention-center-burden-federal-government\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">state, county, and municipal officials have warned<\/a> that ICE\u2019s proposals could strain already limited township resources.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlightpa.org\/berks\/2026\/02\/ice-warehouse-berks-county-purchase-federal-government\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">purchase<\/a> of the warehouse in Upper Bern Township, Berks County, was recorded on Feb. 2. The purchase of the former Big Lots distribution center in Tremont Township, Schuylkill County, officially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvia.org\/news\/local\/2026-02-02\/feds-buy-schuylkill-county-warehouse-expected-to-house-immigrant-detainees\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">went into effect<\/a> on Jan. 29.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.), whose district includes the sites where the two centers are planned, confirmed in a statement last week that the Tremont facility is intended to serve as a detention center and that the Berks facility will operate as a processing center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"READING \u2014 Maryland\u2019s attorney general is suing the federal government to prevent ICE from converting a warehouse into&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-123971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123971","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=123971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}