(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro speaks at the United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania Oppenheim Healthy Aging Campus in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday, May 25, 2023. After a top aide to Gov. Shapiro was accused of sexual harassment earlier this year, the governor’s office settled with the complainant for $295K last month, according to documents released by the administration Friday, Oct. 20, through an open records request. (Christopher Dolan/The Times-Tribune via AP, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro recently slammed the plans of the Department of Homeland Security to open two immigration detention facilities in the state, accusing the agency of disregarding how the centers would impact residents who live nearby. Shapiro claimed that plans to open centers in Berks and Schuylkill counties would threaten local infrastructure, threaten water and sewer functions in the surrounding areas, and “deprive local communities of critical tax revenue” in a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on February 12th, 2026. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement finalized the purchase of properties in Tremont and Upper Bern Township in the early part of February.