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Update: Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said Tuesday evening there’s no meeting planned for Feb. 18. He said he spoke with U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Luzerne County, who said he would still work with DHS to plan the meeting for another day.
The partial federal government shutdown may impact how quickly Berks County officials receive more information about the planned ICE processing facility in Upper Bern Township, Commissioner Christian Leinbach told Spotlight PA on Tuesday.
Leinbach said he spoke with U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Luzerne County, and a representative of the Department of Homeland Security on Feb. 13. They said they would schedule a meeting for local elected officials, including the county commissioners and Upper Bern supervisors, to ask questions about the federal plan for the recently purchased warehouse at 3501 Mountain Road. Officials from Schuylkill County, where DHS has planned a detention center, will also be invited, Leinbach said.
They told Leinbach they had hoped to hold the meeting as soon as Feb. 18, he said, but added that it could be delayed by the shutdown, which as of Tuesday affected all departments under DHS, including ICE.
The shutdown does not seem likely to quickly end, according to the Associated Press.
Spotlight PA reached out to Upper Bern Township Solicitor Andrew Hoffman and Meuser’s office to ask about the date of the meeting, but did not immediately receive a response.
Leinbach said he hoped the federal representatives would hold a public meeting for residents after the private conversation with elected officials. He will inform residents of what he learns, if he’s not prevented from doing so for security reasons, after the meeting, he said.
“This is a normal process, not just with ICE, anyone,” Leinbach said of holding the private meeting before a public one. “You want to be able to ask very detailed questions … maybe be harsher than you might be in public, maybe be less formal than you would be in public. So I think that’s why that’s necessary as a first step.”
This story may be updated.
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