President Donald Trump wants to deport anyone who entered the United States uninvited, and his administration is doing its best to carry out his goal.
IMMIGRATION: AMERICAN DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?
This three-day WVIA News series focuses on the effects of federal immigration policy on Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.
● SATURDAY: The nation's clash over immigration policy is felt in region. Also: 287(g) agreements explained.
● SUNDAY: A young Scranton mother faces future after husband was deported.
● TODAY: Planned Pa. detention centers, including one in Schuylkill County, raise concerns. Also: Pike County finds ICE detentions lucrative.
● KEYSTONE EDITION BROADCAST: Watch our panel discussion at 7 p.m. Monday, May 11 on WVIA-TV.
As immigration enforcement agents increasingly detain people for questionable immigration status nationwide, where to house detainees until they’re deported or freed becomes an issue.
After years of relying on a combination of state, federal and local centers or prisons, the Department of Homeland Security plans 24 new detention centers nationwide, including two in Pennsylvania — one in Schuylkill County, another just to the south in Berks County.
The department touts the economic benefits of both — thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues, but the plans sparked a backlash in both counties and elsewhere nationwide.
Jennifer Devine, 53, who organized a protest against the Schuylkill County center, views her opposition to the detention of thousands of immigrants as a mother and “granddaughter of a Christian pastor.”
“I was brought up and taught that we have to love everybody, and it doesn't matter your skin color, where you're from,” she said. “(It’s about) kindness and love, just to help people ... They're being treated like animals, not even like human beings.”
Governor starts legal battle
Like other matters in Trump's immigration crackdown, the detention centers are tangled up in a legal battle, this one is unusual because state government initiated it.
Normally, local officials manage regulation of property development through zoning boards, planning commissions and other agencies, but in this case, the state Department of Environmental Protection stepped in early on.
DEP issued letters asking Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prove the centers can meet state and federal drinking water quality, clean streams and sewage treatment standards. Dissatisfied, the agencies instead asked for more time, and DEP issued orders demanding proof.
DHS responded by arguing DEP’s orders are unreasonable, premature, too broad, abuse the agency’s regulatory discretion and interfere with enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.
On April 8, ICE appealed DEP’s orders to the state Environmental Hearing Board and asked the board to at least allow use of water and sewage systems at levels allowed for the warehouses. The case remains pending.
What ICE plans
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, proposes housing up to 7,500 detainees in a 1.3 million-square-foot former Big Lots warehouse on Rausch Creek Road in Tremont Twp., Schuylkill County.
The Tremont Twp. center would house more than 26 times more people than live in the township. The 2020 U.S. Census found Tremont Twp. had 283 residents.
The department also wants to open a processing center housing up to 1,500 detainees in a 520,000-square-foot warehouse on Mountain Road in Upper Bern Twp., Berks County.
It’s unclear how ICE chose either, but both would be part of a $38.3 billion plan to create eight large-scale detention centers and 16 processing centers and acquire and renovate 10 centers the agency already operates, according to ICE’s detention re-engineering initiative issued in February.
The situation now
As of April 4, ICE had more than 60,000 detainees across the country, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which tracks immigration-related data. That’s up from more than 39,000 just before Trump took office.
In Pennsylvania, ICE houses detainees at centers in Philadelphia and Clearfield County, a federal prison in Lewisburg and the Pike, Clinton and Cambria counties’ prisons.
ICE wants to expand its nationwide capacity to 92,600 beds, according to the re-engineering initiative. The increase is necessary because ICE has hired 12,000 new enforcement officers, the initiative says.
“For ICE to sustain the anticipated increase in enforcement operations and arrests in 2026, an increase in detention capacity will be a necessary downstream requirement. ICE plans to activate all facilities by Nov. 30, 2026, ensuring the timely expansion of detention capacity,” the initiative says.
Shapiro says no
At least in Pennsylvania, the timetable is uncertain.
The Environmental Hearing Board asked DEP and ICE to file all legal motions by Nov. 4. The board says the two sides can agree on a faster schedule, but Gov. Josh Shapiro has publicly promised to “use every tool” available to block both centers.
“We do not want these detention centers in our communities — they pose serious health, safety and economic risks to the people of Berks and Schuylkill counties,” he said in late February before DEP acted.
Local officials see major logistical problems
Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners Chairman Larry Padora refuses to say if he's for or against the detention center, saying he wants no part of the partisan political fighting.
"We can't stop or approve a detention facility," Padora said Friday. "If somebody else can stop it in the governor's office, that's on the governor. County commissioners don't have the authority. Now, if they want me to do something with it, give me the authority."
That doesn't mean he and other local officials aren't concerned.
When it’s open, the center would be “larger than many communities,” but with no tax base, no emergency services and no judicial system in case a detainee causes trouble, Padora wrote in a letter to Homeland Security officials and federal legislators in February.
“The county cannot absorb this scale of impact without structural federal support,” Padora said.
The department paid $119,515,000 in federal taxpayer dollars for the former Big Lots warehouse in January.
Local officials worry the cost could be greater.
Federal government-owned real estate is tax-exempt, which means Schuylkill County, the Pine Grove Area School District and the township can’t collect almost $1 million in property taxes.
Commissioners want concerns addressed
In his letter, Padora asked for payments in lieu of taxes to cover the lost property tax money.
He also asked for:
● A daily fee per detainee to cover the costs of additional local police, fire, emergency communications, court, healthcare and infrastructure necessary to support the center.
● Upgrades to the emergency radio communications system to account for the center.
● "A federally funded, dedicated advanced life support” ambulance to deal with an expected 5,850 to 11,700 emergency calls to the center each year.
● A commitment to have the federal government pay for all upgrades needed to meet the center’s “substantial water supply and wastewater treatment demands.”
● "A detention center of this size, operating continuously, will consume and discharge volumes comparable to a small municipality,” Padora wrote.
● An agreement to guarantee the center largely uses Interstate 81 and its Tremont interchange to transport prisoners. The county also wants to discuss any use of the Schuylkill County Airport.
● Reimbursement of court costs related to “state-level criminal offenses” that occur inside the center.
Padora hints at potential legal action if the federal government doesn’t agree to “enforceable commitments.”
DEP's case against Schuylkill center
In its order, DEP says the water system that serves the Schuylkill warehouse relies on two groundwater wells, a 1-million-gallon storage tank and a plant designed to treat up to 400,000 gallons of water a day.
Already, drought conditions have resulted in low water levels that required five emergency state permits since December to truck in water to meet existing needs, DEP says.
In February, DEP allowed the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority to use a nearby reservoir that might produce up to 70,000 gallons more a day, eliminating trucked-in water.
The warehouse used an average of 7,675 gallons a day, but DEP calculated the detention center could require up to 900,000 gallons a day, or 90% of all water in the storage tank.
That “would prevent (the authority) from serving its current customers and providing water for fire protection,” DEP’s order says.
On sewage, the warehouse is authorized to produce up to 6,000 gallons of sewage a day. The authority’s Tremont plant can treat up to 500,000 gallons of sewage daily.
In 2025, the plant treated an average of 394,000 gallons a day, with the rest already allocated to projects in development or construction.
The detention center “would likely produce 450,000 to 1 million gallons of sewage daily,” well beyond what the plant can treat, DEP says.
DEP says state law requires DHS to get the water and sewage treatment permits.
DHS questions DEP motives
In its response, DHS said it will comply with all laws and regulations, but it’s still developing specific plans for each center.
The response points out that DEP issued the orders a week after Shapiro announced his opposition. DHS says that “suggests motivation beyond DEP’s authority.” The orders’ demand that ICE use no water at one site and only water to put out fires at another shows an “antipathy” toward ICE, DHS says.
Before she left the job, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement in February that promised the centers will meet “our regular detention standards.”
“Sites 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,” McLaughlin said.
She said that weeks after DHS bought both buildings.
DHS: Big benefits to centers
McLaughlin’s statement said the Tremont center and its construction would produce 9,812 jobs, add $1.1 billion to the gross domestic product and millions in tax revenue.
The Berks center and its construction would produce 1,307 jobs, contribute $146.7 million to the gross domestic product and “bring in more than $33.3 million in tax revenue.”
Meuser says DHS promised cooperation
In a memo publicly released March 25, U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Luzerne), who represents Schuylkill and Berks counties, said a homeland security official committed to addressing concerns during a March 12 meeting.
According to Meuser, the department promised:
● To at least match lost tax revenues.
● To provide “one-time payments” for upgrades to communications systems, utilities and roads, where needed.
“DHS confirmed they are prepared to meet all anticipated utility demands, including wastewater, potable water, electricity, trash, and recycling,” Meuser wrote. “This ensures all systems are designed and operated to prevent disruption to local communities and live up to environmental standards. DHS committed to developing and sharing a detailed transportation plan, including preferred routes that avoid local roads, anticipated daily traffic levels once facilities are operational, and consideration of potential road wear from traffic as part of the planning process.”
● Local workers will fill most of the center’s jobs.
● To develop “dedicated emergency response capabilities, either through private EMS (ambulance) contracts or in-house capacity to reduce reliance on local EMS and law enforcement.”
● To address radio communication gaps and ensure its communications system is compatible with county systems.
● To coordinate with local police when necessary, but the department will handle center security.
“DHS stated that these facilities will house single adults only, with no children or family units detained at these locations,” Meuser’s memo says.
● To establish a community relations board made up of county officials and local representatives.
Meuser has not come out against the centers.
“My priorities remain clear: these facilities must operate safely and community concerns regarding local tax and economic impact, emergency services, public safety, infrastructure, and civic engagement must be addressed,” Meuser said in the update.
Commissioner defends approach
Padora said he's personally spoken to DHS officials who promised to replace the lost tax money. He wants the money now.
"I want the payment in lieu of taxes," he said.
The county is providing information to DEP, but won't get directly involved in the agency's challenge, he said.
"The ICE detention facility, listen, Schuylkill County didn't ask for it to be here. Nobody even knew they were buying it. But it's coming," Padora said. "Some people ... they want you to stick your finger in the chest to DEP and scream at them, and they want you to stick your finger in the chest at DHS."
In this case, that only hurts the community, he said.
"Well, then you don't get payment in lieu of taxes. You don't get the infrastructure for fire companies and police protection and all this, and you don't get any information from them," Padora said. "So it's better to try to mitigate it and work with them to try to make sure the financial impact doesn't hurt the school district, municipality and the county."
Opponent urges sustained protest
Devine, the center's opposition protest organizer, said the protest gave her hope, but she fears that more local residents support the center, and that bothers her.
"And, you know, they look at it like, 'Oh, ... it's gonna bring jobs," she said. "I look at the humanity side of it, but I feel a lot of people around here are not looking at that."
She thinks ICE chose Schuylkill County because it's smaller and rural and less likely to raise a ruckus.
"People, I feel around here ... they're just like ... 'Well, it's the government. What are we going to do?" Devine said. "I feel differently. I feel like, let's get our voices out there. Let's get heard. You know that people are like, 'The governor is doing something.' I understand that. I love Josh Shapiro, but you know, we cannot stop. We still need to speak up because we don't know what's happening."
