Immigration enforcement program at Pike prison?

Detaining criminal aliens could mean 200 jobs

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA — The Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) Administration could be considering building a detention facility at the Pike County Correctional Center for convicted criminal alien detainees who are waiting deportation.

Recently, Rich Caridi, chairman of the Pike County Commissioners, and commissioner Harry Forbes visited the ICE headquarters in Washington, DC and met with the third in command of the mammoth agency to discuss the matter. ICE is the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security.

The commissioners learned from Strategic Business Alliance, a global agency that provides consulting services to companies and government agencies, that ICE was looking to build several regional detention centers to replace the large center in Texas.

ICE is currently sending out communications to over 350 correctional facilities in the United States, Caridi said. Caridi visited Senator Robert Casey, who said he would be supportive of the county’s application, and he heard from Congressman Chris Carney that he, too, would support the county in its application.

“The agency is also looking for a qualified health center, which we already have in Wayne Memorial Hospital,” Caridi said.

“Our correctional facility already has contracted with ICE to house a number of criminal aliens and has been certified as an ICE-approved prison,” Caridi said. “Our facility has received a number of citations of excellence by federal and state correctional agencies, so we could stand a good chance of being one of the prisons selected.”

If Pike County is selected, it could mean up to 200 or more jobs for county residents, Caridi said. It could mean that a new $200 million facility would be built at the 268-acre Pike County Complex on Route 739 in Blooming Grove. Such regional facilities, located throughout the country, could eliminate long flights to Texas for detainees and officials.

“We don’t want this to mean a further burden on the taxpayers of Pike County,” Caridi said. “We want to have the right contract in place to insure this.

“It takes almost a year to have an alien’s case finalized and deported,” Caridi said. “Meanwhile, they have to be housed somewhere. Why not here?”

“We’ve had a solid relationship with ICE since 1996 when they decided to put some of their inmates here,” Forbes said. “We are hoping that this will give us an advantage. We have the facility and we have the space.”