PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Nearly 50 workers were detained during two ICE raids at a construction site in central Pennsylvania, which advocates are calling the largest combined workplace ICE raid to date in the state.
It happened near the site of the new Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Montour County.
The Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition said 41 workers were detained while leaving the site after a day’s work on Sept. 2, and another eight were detained in a raid on Sept. 8. The workers are from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries.
Some of them are being held at Clinton County Jail in nearby Lock Haven, according to the coalition. All remain in detention.
The coalition said members of the Danville Police Department assisted in the raids. The police department and the Montour County Sheriff’s Office previously made agreements with ICE to deputize their officers and help with immigration enforcement.
A representative for the Geisinger Medical Center said the arrests did not happen on the actual work site.
ICE has not responded to KYW Newsradio’s request for comment.
