Five Pennsylvania Counties Billed Federal Government $21 Million for ICE Detentions

Five Pennsylvania counties have billed the federal government more than $21 million in 2024 and 2025 to detain immigrants in local jails, according to a recent review of public records by Spotlight PA. 

The intergovernmental service agreements, which allow county facilities to operate as detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service, predate the second Trump administration. However, they are drawing renewed public scrutiny as the federal government pursues a mass deportation agenda that relies heavily on local law enforcement partnerships.

Invoices obtained by Spotlight PA show that Clinton, Erie, Franklin, and Pike counties collectively charged over $21 million for detention services across 2024 and 2025. A fifth county, Cambria, maintains a similar arrangement but declined to provide recent payment information, noting that ICE only recently began sending detainees to its facility. A sixth county, Clearfield, operates under a different agreement, collecting administrative fees as an intermediary between ICE and a private prison contractor.

Unlike standard detainer requests—where local jails temporarily hold individuals facing criminal charges for a few days until federal agents arrive—these contracts allow local jails to function as longer-term immigration detention centers. Under these agreements, immigrants can be held in county facilities for months during their immigration proceedings, even if the jail is located miles away from where they were initially arrested.

For local governments, these federal contracts provide a substantial financial boost. Officials note that the revenue generated helps fund county jail operations and general municipal expenses. Cambria County Commissioner Scott Hunt defended the long-standing relationship, stating that despite current political tensions, the arrangement has existed for years. At least one other county leader acknowledged to Spotlight PA that the ICE payments have become a critical income source that would require careful planning to replace.

Conversely, the agreements have sparked intense debate among residents and civil rights advocates concerned about local complicity in aggressive federal immigration enforcement. During a February Erie County Council meeting, residents offered divided testimony. Opponents, including Sister Anne McCarthy of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, argued that participating in the enhanced enforcement is "immoral."

Supporters of the contracts countered that ending local cooperation would not stop federal enforcement, but would simply cost the county valuable revenue and force detainees into facilities hundreds of miles away. 

"ICE will find a different location to house their detainees," Wesleyville resident and borough council member Fred Petrini argued at the meeting. "We will just be out a half a million dollars in funds that could help the county with expenses."

The reliance on local jails coincides with broader federal efforts to expand detention capacity in the state. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security acquired two Pennsylvania warehouses with plans to convert them into detention centers capable of holding 9,000 people—a move that local lawmakers say they were blindsided by and have limited power to block. Conversely, the county jail agreements identified by Spotlight PA require the direct backing of elected county leaders and prison oversight boards.