The Trump Administration’s purchase of two vacant warehouses in two rural Pennsylvania townships illustrates where guardrails – which should protect communities from unwanted and unsuitable land development – fall far short.
Secret deals and deed transfers meant local elected officials were kept in the dark until the transfers were done and the ink was dry.
After meeting with local leaders in Schuylkill and Berks counties today, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro doubled down on his commitment to stop two vacant warehouse sites purchased by the federal government earlier this month from becoming Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.
During a post visitpress conference, Shapiro said while the federal government has enormous power to place these facilities “anywhere in the country, we are not powerless here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Shapiro said the visits were important both to understand the positions of local leadership and also to fully appreciate the negative impacts on these communities.
“I’ve been outspoken about the violation of constitutional rights by ICE, and I continue to believe they are on a failed mission, directed by President Trump and Secretary (of Homeland Security Kristi) Noem, and they are violating people’s constitutional rights all across this country,” Shapiro said.
He said locally there is a lot of frustration over the secrecy around the land acquisition process.
“They really didn’t learn about this until the deeds were filed and the deal was done – that rendered them powerless to stop it in the initial process,” Shapiro explained, “and there is real concern about economic impacts on these communities.”
In February 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchased the 1.3 million-square-foot former Big Lots center to transform it into a massive detention center in Tremont Township – without going through the land development or subdivision process, Bucks County Beacon previously reported.
This purchase is part of the nearly $200 million that DHS recently spent on Pennsylvania warehouses, Local 21 News reported.
Shapiro pointed to Pennsylvania’s recent economic development, making it among the top states in the nation for new business growth and survival.
“This is taking away attention from the kind of job growth” we want in Pennsylvania, Shapiro said.
He underscored the lack of available water and sewer infrastructure and services at the proposed facilities as well as the resource drain and strain on the communities in which they are proposed.
“In Tremont, if this is built, they will literally run out of water in 24 hours,” Shapiro said, “to the average homeowner (in Tremont), that means they won’t be able to turn on the water in the kitchen and fill up a pot of water,” Shapiro added.
Opposition to the warehouse conversions in both Schuylkill and Berks counties has broad bi-partisan support, Shapiro said.
He acknowledged even with the financial resources the federal government wants to pledge to the projects “there is simply no [water] capacity in the ground for what they want.”
“Trucking water in and out (for drinking and waste water) is not a feasible solution,” Shapiro said.
In addition to drinking and waste water management, Shapiro said additional stresses on the health care sector, 911 call service and emergency services providers would be well beyond what either township could shoulder or provide.
“You add people to these warehouses, you’ll either pull away resources for others or you won’t have the ability to provide health care to them,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro pledged to do “everything in my legal power and my regulatory power to see to it that these facilities are not sighted here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
As governor, Shapiro has sued the Trump administration 19 times – and won every time, he said.
“We follow the law, unlike this administration in Washington. I will stand up to the federal government in what I see as an overreach that would create havoc in our communities and bring the kind of chaos and cruelty we’re seeing from this administration every day into Pennsylvania. I’m going to do everything in my power to stop it,” Shapiro said.
View the press conference as well as past media here.
