ICE detention center fears in Bucks County: Congressman reveals feds’ plans

✅ No ICE detention center is planned for Bucks County, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick says

✅ Warehouses in NJ and PA have been sold to ICE

✅Residents in Fitzpatrick's district have raised concerns

Bucks County is not in line to get an ICE detention facility even as sales are finalized for warehouses in nearby areas, according to U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.

While Berks County in Pennsylvania, Morris County in Roxbury Township, New Jersey, and other locations around the country have found themselves part of Department of Homeland Security plans, the Republican said he has received assurances that his 1st Congressional District does not have to worry.

“After hearing from concerned residents, our office immediately contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and we have received assurances that no such facility is planned for PA-1,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “When questions arise that impact our community, we address them directly, establish the facts, and ensure our community has clear and accurate information.”

Bucks County Commissioners at their meeting on Wednesday  unanimously approved a resolution opposed to any warehouse in the county being used as an ICE detention center.

“Bucks County is not a county that needs or wants a detention facility,” Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo said. “I want it to be perfectly clear – whether it’s right now, or a month, a year from now – we do not want, and the Commissioners are opposed to, a detention facility for ICE here in Bucks County.”

Vice Chair Bob Harvie, who is also a candidate in the Democratic 1st Congressional District primary, cited the internment of Italian and Japanese-Amercans during World War II for his opposition.

“At some point we have to think back to who we are as a country and stand up for what’s right. This is doing that," Harvie said.

Warehouse purchases by ICE raise alarms

ICE has purchased a 520,000-square-foot warehouse in Upper Bern Township, Pa, for $87.4 million, according to county records. County spokesman Jonathan Heintzman told the Associated Press it had no prior knowledge of the sale or information about ICE's plan for the property.

Council members in Roxbury have passed a resolution against a facility after ICE officials were spotted by township manager J.J. Murphy touring a warehouse.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Wednesday that the federal government had purchased a warehouse in Roxbury. He called it "an affront to the Roxbury community who resoundingly rejected the prospect of a facility weeks ago."

The First Congressional District covers all of Bucks County and a part of Montgomery County.

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