UPPER BERN — When Cindy Rightmyer found out the Trump administration spent $87.4 million on an empty Berks County warehouse to use as an immigration detention center, she was shocked.
“Drive around, and the one sign you’ll see is ‘No Warehouses,’ and that’s probably the consistent sign,” said Rightmyer, a precinct committee chair with the county Democratic Committee. “And it’s not political — it just says no warehouse.”
While President Donald Trump overwhelmingly won blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Upper Bern Township in 2024, residents across the political spectrum told Spotlight PA they were shocked and angry to learn of the purchase.
In the days since the sale became public, local leaders, as well as Democrats Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, have criticized the move. They’ve voiced many of the same concerns as residents, citing a lack of transparency and existing infrastructure, as well as the damage it could do to the local tax base.
“It is a bipartisan issue,” said Debra Fisher. “It doesn’t matter your affiliation. If you live here, you’re going to have to deal with it.”
Fisher serves on the township’s zoning board and declined to share her party affiliation, noting her main concerns were water and sewage, as well as impacts to the nearby steam and wetlands. Her property on Schoolhouse Road backs up to the warehouse, an imposing, blocky white structure with gray and blue accents situated at the top of a hill next to an Amazon distribution center.
“We need a lot more information,” she said when asked about the zoning board’s potential role. “I doubt you can supersede the government.”
The township off Interstate 78 has a population of less than 2,000 people. Initial reports indicate the detention center could have up to 1,500 beds, rapidly expanding Upper Bern’s population. Many, including Fetterman and Republican County Commissioner Christian Leinbach, have publicly expressed concern that this growth could overwhelm local resources.
“Some people are strictly infrastructure,” Rightmyer said of opposition to ICE’s plan. “For other people, it was moral … And, I’m like, whatever it takes for people to want to push back, go for it.”
It’s unclear if anything can be done to block the detention center. Shapiro recently said options are "fairly slim" because the federal government is the purchaser.
“Hopefully, the local government, who will likely have some permitting power here, hopefully they don't approve these permits, they don't allow the federal government to build this facility, and we're going to be working closely with our local partners on that front to see if it can be stopped,” Shapiro said during an early February news conference.
Rightmyer said the committee is looking at what other communities have done in this situation, noting plans to convert more than 20 other similar facilities into detention centers across the country.
"I just want to work with wherever [residents] are at and help with," she said. "If we can slow-walk permits, if we can slow-walk anything happening, and if that's the way to do it, then go for that."
Over the past few decades, Upper Bern Township has lost several of its small businesses that attracted tourists and interstate travelers. It lost Roadside America, a popular tourist destination nearly a century old, and Haag’s Hotel, known for its Pennsylvania Dutch food. Before that, the historic Shartlesville Hotel shuttered, an anchor lost.
The Blue Mountain Family Restaurant is one of the last small businesses still standing, located right off the interstate. With colorful hex signs hung on the outside walls, intricate quilt squares tacked up within, and hot bacon dressing advertised on the well-stocked salad bar, it's homey and welcoming, acting as a meeting place for residents.
Rumors were circulating among customers the week before the purchase went through, said Ted Perezous, the owner and manager. But when it was confirmed, he was surprised.
A registered independent who said he’d rather decide his political positions on an issue-by-issue basis rather than affiliate with Democrats or Republicans, he listed his questions to a Spotlight PA reporter: Is it a long-term detention center? Is it transitional? Who is going to be there? Is it families? Is it co-ed? Is it children?
“I don’t know,” he said. “All those things would, once those are crystallized, my opinion will be more crystallized as well.”
Perezous said he’s feeling "overwhelming apprehension,” and doesn’t think he’s alone.
“Who wants, even if it was done in plain view and transparency, who wants a detention center in their backyard?” he asked. “Nobody does, even if it's just a normal prison. Take away the political implications of it. No one wants a prison, a detention center, in their backyard.”
In the shadow of the warehouse at Mountain Springs Camping Resort, Estella Lamey said the plan was “terrible, just terrible.”
“As a neighbor, as a resident of the township, we don’t have the capacity to deal with this,” she said. “We’re all in favor of criminals coming off the streets, but when they’re coming to arrest a neighbor whose skin is a little darker than mine? This isn’t the America I grew up in.”
At a previously scheduled town hall on Wednesday, Berks County Commissioners fielded questions — and outrage — about the warehouse. More than 80 people gathered at the Bethel-Tulpehocken Public Library for a type of meeting that usually draws around 20 people.
Attendees wanted to know if and how the commissioners would stand against the detention center, how they would support Upper Bern supervisors, and how they would keep Berks County from turning into another “Operation Metro Surge.”
Leinbach, the chair and longest-serving member, and Commissioner Michael Rivera declined to voice a final opinion on the detention center. They each said they needed to know more about the project: Who would operate the center? How many people would be there? Would it take resources from the neighboring community?
“Mr. Leinbach, I’m going to argue real quick when you said ‘don’t paint ICE with a broad brush.’ Tell that to the Good and Pretti families in Minnesota,” one community member said in reference to a previous comment from Leinbach telling attendees not to view all ICE agents in the same way.
Commissioner Dante Santoni, the only Democrat on the panel, broke from his colleagues and said he could not imagine learning new information that would make him support the detention center.
While the lack of information persists, Rightmyer said she still feels like she has some say, and maybe even the power to slow down the plan, possibly through the permitting process. She’s encouraging residents to contact local leaders and representatives to express their concerns.
“We’re still a democracy. There’s still free speech,” Rightmyer said. “And it’s up to me as a concerned citizen to take advantage of what’s available — township meetings, town halls, anywhere. That’s my responsibility.”
Spotlight PA’s Hanna Holthaus contributed reporting.