READING — ICE has informed the Shapiro administration that it will not use two warehouses it purchased in Pennsylvania as detention centers.
It did so in two letters sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection earlier this month and released Wednesday by the governor’s office.
In March, DEP issued administrative orders barring the federal Department of Human Services from connecting to water or sewer at the warehouses in Upper Bern Township, Berks County, and Tremont, Schuylkill County, until it complied with state environmental laws. DHS appealed the orders, setting off what could have been a lengthy legal process.
Instead, DHS filed a notice Wednesday saying it had withdrawn its appeal.
In June, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration planned to sell or give away seven of the 11 warehouses purchased over the past year as part of a sweeping $38.3 billion plan to expand detention capacity. Local and state officials at the time said they were in the dark about what would happen next.
The two letters sent to DEP earlier this month state that, “ICE has considered the final use it will make of this Property, and it hereby informs DEP that it will not be using this Property as a detention center.”
However, the letters do not detail what ICE plans to do with the buildings, which the agency purchased for nearly $207 million. “ICE’s plan is that it will maintain the use of the property on existing sewage planning, sewage flows, and drinking water use levels,” the letters say.
Officials did not address the letters or warehouse plans during a regular meeting of the Berks County Commissioners on Thursday.
Following the meeting, Democratic Commissioner Dante Santoni Jr. told Spotlight PA that he’s ecstatic about the federal government’s decision to abort plans.
“I'm happy that the federal government made that decision. Hopefully, it was because of some of the things that our people talked about, and some of the rallies that we had against the opening of those facilities,” he said. “We want to make sure that they get back on the tax rolls.”
Before the sale, the property in Upper Bern previously paid $597,110 annually to the Hamburg Area School District, $199,620 to Berks County, and $31,229 to the township. The property tax loss in the township is about 15% of the total collected.
The Tremont Township purchase took an estimated $1 million off the tax rolls, including a $222,574 loss for Schuylkill County, a $195,954 loss for the township, and a $555,630 loss for Pine Grove Area School District.
In a statement, Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration opposed converting the warehouses into detention centers, as doing so “would have posed serious risks to the health, safety, and infrastructure of the surrounding communities.” Estimates from the DEP found the Berks County facility alone would produce as much as 100,000 gallons of sewage per day, which would overwhelm the local system.
"My Administration stood with local leaders and residents, enforced Pennsylvania law, and worked across agencies to protect people from being held in these warehouses and to protect the surrounding communities,” Shapiro continued.
This story will be updated.