An awkward position
This past week, new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a pause on buying any more warehouses for the ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative.
An anonymous DHS official said that DHS will also scrutinize recently-purchased warehouses, which includes the former Big Lots Distribution Center in Tremont Township.
Coal Region Canary reached out to DHS directly. A DHS spokesperson responded:
As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals. As Secretary Mullin said in his confirmation hearing: "We want to work with community leaders. We want to be good partners."
Our reaction is cautious, as we told The Canary:
We're glad to hear reports that DHS may scrutinize existing warehouse purchases. But the information is from an anonymous source, and "scrutinize" could mean anything.
Even if the detention center never materializes, we still don't know what will happen to the warehouse. There are still too many unknowns.
Commissioner Padora's reaction is much the same:
It doesn't change the County's stance at all. We need to be made whole for our tax revenue.
A circus
Back on March 17, in response to DEP's administrative orders, DHS asked for more time to provide plans for water and sewer at the Tremont warehouse.
DHS says the plans won't be ready until April 30. Here's a fun quote from DHS's letter:
ICE has not discussed the DEP administrative orders in any detail with local authorities, but it believes that the orders place them in awkward positions given current water and sewage circumstances as they seek to comply with the DEP orders they received.
Indeed, it is awkward that the federal government spent $119,000,000 of our tax dollars on a warehouse and didn't realize that there isn't enough water in the area and the sewer connection is a 2-inch pipe.
Let's not forget that right now, there is no detention center or prison in the entire country that holds 7,500 people. This is a novel, large-scale project, and DHS is scrambling to assemble plans. Which Professional Engineer at DHS is willing stamp the plans (and risk their license) for this circus?
Thankfully, PA DEP's press secretary told Penn Capital-Star that DEP has no plans to relax its administrative orders at this time.
What you can do this week
Right now, we're in a holding pattern while DHS figures out its next move.
In the meantime, we'll keep talking to our neighbors about the detention center, and we'll keep pressuring our elected officials to protect our interests, tax dollars, infrastructure, public health, and safety.
Sign the Delaware Riverkeeper petition asking Governor Shapiro and DEP to hold the line on the administrative orders.
Tell your friends to play Poop Truck Mountain Run, our April Fools Day gag for this site. We even got some news headlines that include the words "poop trucks." We'll call that a win.
Attend the commissioners meeting this Wednesday, April 8 at 10:00 AM.
You can also watch the livestream on YouTube if you can't make it to the meeting.
Enjoy this rare lull in the chaos, because the fight isn't over.
