Daniel Meuser

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Another federal lawmaker has confirmed that plans to convert a pair of warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill counties into Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities have been canceled.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser issued a statement Friday revealing that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has shelved plans to open detention facilities in Upper Bern and Tremont townships. The Republican legislator represents both communities.

The Pennsylvania properties were each bought by ICE earlier this year as part of a nationwide effort to convert former warehouses into detention facilities. The effort has drawn strong pushback from local communities, including in Upper Bern and Tremont where opponents had raised concerns about the potential drain on local resources and environmental impact the facilities would have.

“My office has been informed directly that DHS, under the leadership of Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has advanced immigration enforcement plans that will not include the proposed detention or processing centers in Berks or Schuylkill counties,” the congressman said in the statement.

The Berks warehouse in Upper Bern Township is a 527,000-square-foot building at 3501 Mountain Road purchased in late January for $87.4 million. Officials from ICE said it would be renovated to hold 1,500 people as a processing center.

The Schuylkill warehouse is a 1.3-million-square-foot former Big Lots distribution center in Tremont Township. It was purchased by ICE for $119 million and was planned to house up to 7,500 people as a detention center.

Meuser said he was informed that the Trump administration’s plans evolved based on operational needs and, in large part, on the extensive due diligence conducted by local officials who his office worked with to ensure the best possible outcome for the community.

“The careful review of the proposed sites and engagement with DHS played an important role throughout this process,” he said.

Meuser said his office will provide more information on future plans for the sites as it becomes available.

The announcement from Meuser comes four days after U.S. Sen. John Fetterman issued a statement delivering the same news.

Fetterman said in his statement that he appreciated that Mullin recognized the negative impacts these facilities would have — including the direct threat to local economies and infrastructure — and canceled these plans.

Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said he believes the announcement from Meuser on Friday is good news.

During the months that followed the purchase of the Upper Bern warehouse by ICE, Leinbach had expressed concerns about the impact the facility will have on the local infrastructure like the township sewer system, the extraction of water from wells, increased traffic and the strain on emergency services.

He also voiced concerns about the humanitarian and financial implications of the proposed processing center.

“It’s very likely that the feedback from both counties letting DHS know clearly what the impact would be and what the concerns were led them to back off the plans,” Leinbach said. “I think all in all this is good news.”

He said the main focus now should be getting the Upper Bern warehouse back on the tax rolls, noting that local government revenues will continue to be affected as long as the federal government owns the building.

Based on the current assessment of the property, the loss in local tax dollars would be about $200,000 for the county, $31,000 for the township and $597,000 for the Hamburg School District.

Berks County Commissioner Dante Santoni Jr. also welcomed the news. The lone Democrat on the board had been a vocal opponent of the detention centers.

“I’m very glad that this is the outcome,” he said. “But I’m not going to thank the federal government for making this decision because you don’t thank someone for cleaning up a mess they created.”

Santoni said that while people can tend to be cynical about the importance of getting involved in local issues, this is an example of democracy in action.

“People held rallies, people protested, people wrote to their elected officials about their concerns,” he said. “And that process works. I want to commend those residents in Berks and Schuylkill who fought this from the beginning.”