ICE arrests nearly 50 immigrant workers in two Central Pennsylvania operations, advocates say
The Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition said the arrests represent the largest work-place raid in the state to date.
ICE agents arrested at least 49 immigrant construction workers in two separate operations carried out in the last week in the Central Pennsylvania community of Danville, according to immigration advocates.
All remain in detention, they said.
The arrests targeted workers who were leaving the EwingCole construction site at the Geisinger Medical Center, where a new patient tower is being built.
At least 41 people were arrested on Sept. 2 as they left the property around 5 p.m., and eight more were arrested on Tuesday, beginning at about 6 a.m., according to Centre County Rapid Response Network, an immigrant-assistance group, and the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition. The men are nationals from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and other countries.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could those with the Department of Homeland Security.
The Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition said the arrests represent the largest work-place raid in the state to date.
In a statement, the Geisinger Medical Center said it was aware of law-enforcement activity on Sept. 2 that involved workers from its tower construction project. The activity did not occur on Geisinger property, it said.
“As with any large construction project, we hire a construction manager to oversee the project,” the statement said. “It is their responsibility to make sure all workers on the project meet all federal and state work eligibility requirements.”
Immigration advocates said ICE agents made the arrests with the assistance of Danville police, that workers driving cars were stopped as they left, and that police followed other workers from the edges of Geisinger property to their homes.
Workers leaving Danville for other parts of the state encountered checkpoints near highway entrances, the coalition said.
The involvement of local authorities in ICE arrests has been a controversial issue in Pennsylvania, as more police agencies sign on to help enforce federal immigration law.
The immigration coalition said eyewitnesses to the Sept. 2 operation reported that ICE was using drones overhead, which increased an atmosphere of militarization.
“We don’t need our local police enforcing federal law. It is not their job and has proven time and again to harm public safety,” said Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition. “ICE and billionaires profiting off federal contracts are making billions of dollars from kidnapping our people. They are terrorizing families and attacking our neighbors who are literally building our communities. We don’t need $240 billion of our tax dollars to go to ICE and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection], we need that money to make education, healthcare and housing affordable.”
