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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has purchased a large property in Upper Bern Township that includes a sprawling warehouse for $87.4 million. (Bill Uhrich \u2013 Reading Eagle)<\/p>\nState Rep. Jamie Barton voiced concerns and fielded questions from residents about plans for a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement processing center in Upper Bern Township.<\/p>\n
Barton, who spoke at a township meeting Thursday, said he\u2019d heard from Department of Homeland Security officials about the ICE facility.<\/p>\n
The department bought the 62-acre property at 3501 Mountain Road containing a 527,000-square-foot warehouse in late January for $87.4 million.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has purchased a large property in Upper Bern Township that includes a sprawling warehouse for $87.4 million. (Bill Uhrich \u2013 Reading Eagle)<\/p>\n
DHS\u2019s plan would convert the warehouse into a processing center<\/a> for migrants arrested by federal agents before their transfer to ICE detention centers.<\/p>\n The facility is one of 16 proposed processing centers, each with an expected population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees whose stays would average three to seven days, according to a DHS document posted in February.<\/p>\n Another eight large-scale detention centers \u2014\u00a0like one planned for Tremont Township<\/a> in Schuylkill County\u00a0\u2014 would be capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods averaging less than 60 days.<\/p>\n Plans call for all facilities to be operational by December.<\/p>\n Following their stay in detention centers, some migrants could be deported, and others may face jail terms in U.S. facilities, Barton said.<\/p>\n The Upper Bern warehouse has been vacant since its construction in 2021.<\/p>\n Barton, a Schuylkill County Republican who also represents parts of northern Berks County, said significant questions still surround the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cSafety: That\u2019s our number one issue,\u201d Barton told the Reading Eagle. \u201cDHS has said they\u2019re going to have security inside and outside the facility. But safety for our community, we need to make sure (of that).\u201d<\/p>\n He said there were concerns about whether local emergency services would be diverted to serve the facility.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a fire there, are they going to have their own (firefighters)?\u201d Barton said. \u201cEMS\u2026are they going to have their own medical (center) inside the facility? We just don\u2019t know that answer.\u201d<\/p>\n Barton said there has been discussion of possibly forming a community advisory board of local officials that could conduct checks at the facility to ensure safety and security measures are met.<\/p>\n Financial, infrastructure concerns<\/p>\n The economic impacts of stripping a high-value property from the local tax base are also a concern, Barton said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re losing a lot of money here,\u201d Barton said. \u201cThere have been comments made by DHS that \u2018we\u2019re going to make you whole,\u2019 but we haven\u2019t seen that in writing yet.\u201d<\/p>\n The financial hit is substantial \u2014 Berks County commissioners said in February that the loss in local tax dollars is estimated at $828,000 per year: $200,000 in county taxes, $31,000 in township taxes and $597,000 in Hamburg School District taxes.<\/p>\n Barton said DHS has mentioned the possibility of a \u201cper bed tax\u201d that would see the township, county and school district reimbursed.<\/p>\n Other questions revolved around the facility\u2019s impact on local infrastructure, such as whether water would have to be trucked in and how the sewer system would handle the added usage.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no solution I\u2019ve been told (yet) for the sewer, the water,\u201d Barton said. \u201cThose are big things.\u201d<\/p>\n Township solicitor Andew Hoffman told the Reading Eagle that Upper Bern officials have limited control over how the federal government handles the site.<\/p>\n \u201cThe federal government doesn\u2019t have to go through the normal (plan) review process,\u201d Hoffman noted. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to comply with the zoning. They don\u2019t have to comply with the land development ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n