1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the Trump administration's plan to convert industrial warehouses into ICE detention facilities across the country. Over twenty sites have been purchased or proposed, many located near schools, hospitals, and places of worship. These facilities would detain as many as 9,500 people, and I am deeply concerned about the impact on our communities and the welfare of those detained. These warehouse conversions have been acquired without notifying or consulting local officials, bypassing the transparency our communities deserve. Even proponents of immigration enforcement have raised concerns about facility operations and the infrastructure impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. The lack of oversight is alarming. Families, lawyers, and political officials have been denied access to existing ICE facilities, where reports of abuse, neglect, and unaccounted disappearances have emerged. This expansion has already faced bipartisan opposition nationwide. Protests and pressure campaigns have successfully caused many companies and landowners to cancel their deals with the Department of Homeland Security. This demonstrates that public accountability can work, but we need elected officials to take a stand. I am asking you to publicly oppose ICE's detention camp expansion in our state. Specifically, I urge you to propose or support regulations that would prevent ICE from purchasing and converting warehouses into detention facilities without local government approval and robust oversight mechanisms. Our communities should not be forced to host facilities that operate without transparency and accountability. These detention camps represent a dangerous expansion of immigration enforcement that prioritizes mass incarceration over humane treatment. I need to know that you will use your position to protect our neighbors and ensure that any immigration enforcement in our state operates with full transparency, oversight, and respect for human dignity.