Immigrant detention center in Berks County will close
For more than a decade, the center had been one of three places where U.S. immigration enforcement would detain families with children.
For more than a decade, the center had been one of three places where U.S. immigration enforcement would detain families with children.
Immigration officials say they are taking detailed precautions, activists call on Gov. Tom Wolf and President-elect Joe Biden to take action.
Lawyers representing families detained at the Berks County Residential Center say Immigrations and Customs Enforcement may deport two families as soon as this weekend.
An employee at Berks County Residential Center received a positive test result for COVID-19 on Oct. 16, a week after last working in the building, according to a letter sent to families detained there.
Sunrise Movement protesters used a projector to display statements of immigrant families being held in the Berks County Residential Center. The statements described the emotional cost of family detention and reported the center’s failure to take precautions against the spread of coronavirus.
After being ordered to release all children in their custody due to the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials argued against releasing their parents with them in new court filings.