More than two years since Ted Dallas, the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced that its license would not be renewed by the Department, dozens of families waiting for decisions on their immigration cases are still being housed by the Berks Family Detention Center.
Immigrant rights advocates are calling for the detention center, situated just outside Reading, to be closed down, and this month, launched a new initiative in an attempt to put pressure on the state government to do that. Immigrant rights groups and faith-based groups have formed The Shut Down Berks Coalition, which has been making use of video messages from supporters to plead with Governor Tom Wolf to immediately close the facility.
Berks County operates the center, which holds around 30 families on average, under contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The video messages show petitioners asking Wolf to have residents removed by emergency measures used when the facility or agency is found to have been guilty of gross incompetence, misconduct, or negligence. Wolf spokesman, J.J. Abbott, announced that the governor supports revoking the center’s license.
In 2016, a guard at the center was convicted of rape, and this, together with other allegations of inadequate medical care, are being cited as grounds for such an intervention.
But, Colin Day, the press secretary of the Department, says that all allegations have been investigated by the Department of Human Services and to date, no cause has been found that would justify emergency closure.