Detention Center Plan Revives Berks County Fight Against ICE

Activists who shut down a Berks County detention center brace for tougher fight with ICE ahead

This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks.

Detention center plan revives Berks County fight against ICE

BERN — For nearly a decade, groups of protesters would gather to chant and sing songs in front of the Berks County Residential Center, urging the release of the mothers and children seeking asylum. The campaign to shut down the small immigration detention facility in Bern Township began in 2014 after reports that a guard had regularly sexually assaulted a 19-year-old Honduran mother. And it ceased in 2023, when the center closed after ICE ended …

ICE wants to return to this Pennsylvania county. The fight against it will look very different.

It took nearly a decade for a coalition of advocates, attorneys and members of the faith community to shut down a small immigration detention facility in Berks County. Members of the Shut Down Berks coalition are rethinking their strategy.

Meuser Outlines DHS Commitments for Proposed Detention Facilities in Schuylkill, Berks Counties

Dan Meuser is providing new details on discussions between federal officials and local leaders regarding the proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention facilities planned for Schuylkill and Berks counties.In a statement released Thursday following recent meetings, Meuser said his office has been working to connect DHS with county commissioners, municipal officials, school leaders, and community representatives after learning of the…

ICE wants to return to Berks County. The fight against it will look very different.

This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks. BERN — For nearly a decade, groups of protesters would gather to chant and sing songs in front of the Berks County Residential Center, urging the release of the mothers and children seeking asylum. The campaign to shut down the s…