ICE drops plan to convert 2 Pennsylvania warehouses into detention centers

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is giving up on its plan to use two rural Pennsylvania warehouses to hold thousands of people.

The plan had been held up by the state's denial of drinking water and wastewater permits, and an ICE lawyer filed paperwork Wednesday withdrawing his agency's appeal of the denial. The state had raised concerns that the local water and wastewater services in rural areas of Berks and Schuylkill counties were inadequate to handle the thousands of inhabitants envisioned by the federal agency.

ICE did not say what, if anything, it would ultimately use the warehouses for.

But it told the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in a separate letter that it “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.”

The letter, dated last week, was released Wednesday by the DEP.

In a statement, Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said the warehouses "are not suitable for people and converting them to detention centers would have posed serious risks to the health, safety, and infrastructure of the surrounding communities.”

ICE had been buying warehouses across the U.S. as part of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s $38 billion plan to rapidly expand detention capacity this year. However, it began retreating from that plan last month.

Noem’s purchases were largely made out of public view and angered communities that were caught by surprise. Some local officials only learned about ICE’s ambitions after the agency bought or leased space for detainees. After Noem was fired, her replacement, Markwayne Mullin, quickly paused the purchase of new warehouses.