Thread: Norco warms up to immigrant prison idea

Norco warms up to immigrant prison idea
Stoffa will start talks with feds — an early step in the process.
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Northampton County Council took a first step Thursday toward bringing a private detention facility for illegal immigrants to Upper Mount Bethel Township.

Council members decided, 5 to 2, to give Executive John Stoffa the power to begin talks with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the county assuming the formal responsibility for detaining people who are in the U.S. illegally. The county could, in turn, subcontract the job to the GEO Group or another company that specializes in these types of prisons.

Representatives from the company, which has 80,000 beds in 60 facilities worldwide, addressed council for the second night in a row. They implored members to reach out to ICE before a deadline which they said was extended to Oct. 30 for just this reason.

"Keep the project alive for your sake, for our sake, for the community's benefit," said the GEO Group's Cloid Shuler, vice president of business development.

Council President Ron Angle, one of several key Slate Belt figures who brought the issue before council, abstained from the vote to avoid a perceived conflict of interest. He owns 25 and 88 acres, zoned agricultural, on either side of the 128-acre site GEO has a verbal deal to buy.

Angle and prison officials said Wednesday the project would likely increase property values because the overall economy would improve. The facility could employ 500 people.

Lamont McClure and Ann McHale, the Democrats on council, voted 'no' on the nonbinding resolution. Councilwoman Peg Ferraro was absent.

"I'm a little reluctant to do anything on this issue tonight," said McClure, an attorney. "We're talking about the potentiality of housing 2,000 criminally illegal aliens in Northampton County."

Even with the vote, the matter is far from a done deal, said council solicitor Phil Lauer. He warned council not to use any language that referred specifically to GEO and council heeded his advice.

The county could risk violating competitive bidding laws if it appears the company was chosen without a public selection process, or without proof that the county can't find anyone else to provide the service.

"When the negotiations get to the place of a contract," Lauer said, "in order for that contract to fly it will have to come back to council."

Upper Mount Bethel Township officials have the ultimate say-so in whether the facility gets built there; the proper zoning is already in place.

Steve Wiencek, business manager for the Bangor Area School District, said it's too early to know how much the project would generate in annual tax revenue, but he noted the amount would be less than the $5 million touted to council Wednesday.

Also Thursday, Council hired Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC to help the county through the process of selling or leasing Gracedale nursing home. The contract is worth $300,000.

Activists from the Gracedale Coalition for Alzheimer's Families presented council a letter saying they're considering filing a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union against Angle. They're upset with the way he treated one of their most vocal leaders, Mario Martinez, a few weeks ago.

The members are seeking nearly 20,000 signatures in hopes of putting a referendum on the ballot that, if ratified, would prevent the sale of Gracedale for five years. The earliest the question could be put to voters is the spring election. The administration set an aggressive timetable of closing two months before the primary election.

Stoffa's budget calls for the county to pitch in $6 million if Gracedale does not change hands next year. Councilman Tom Dietrich said some members are considering offering an amendment to take the contribution out of the budget. That could force Gracedale into financial distress, thus expediting a sale before any voter referendum could take place.

jenna.portnoy@mcall.com

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