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Residents press Berks County to limit ICE detainer holds; commissioners say policy set by prison board
Summary
Two residents urged commissioners to stop holding people past their legal release for ICE detainers; the chair clarified the county's practice applies to criminally charged individuals and said the prison board set a 48-hour detainer policy.
Crystal Kowalski and Annette Garber asked the Berks County commissioners on Jan. 16 to stop local law-enforcement cooperation that results in people being held beyond their legal release time for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers.
"I am asking this board and the jail board to discontinue holding people past their legal release date and time," Crystal Kowalski told the board during the public-comment period. Kowalski urged the commissioners to adopt the first of four options presented by the county solicitor in February 2025 — leaving the current policy that treats ICE detainers as requests and limits additional holding to a maximum of four hours.
Annette Garber, an educator from Sinking Spring, said she spoke on behalf of immigrant students and neighbors who are living with fear and uncertainty. "So I'm coming on behalf of them," Garber said, urging the county not to cooperate with ICE unless legally required and expressing concern about the use of county resources to assist ICE operations.
Commissioner Leinbach responded to the comments, disputing a social-media video that had been widely circulated and saying the county and sheriff do not have a contract with ICE. He explained that the county's procedures focus on people who are criminally charged: officers check immigration status during booking and, if ICE issues a detainer, the detainer may apply when a charge is dropped or a person is released pending a hearing. "A detainer ... only comes into play when either the charge is dropped or the individual is going to be released pending [a] hearing, and it's 48 hours," he said.
Leinbach also told the public that the prior decision on the county's handling of ICE detainers was made by the prison board earlier in 2025 and that any change would need to be made through that board. He described the prison board as composed of the three county commissioners, the county controller, Sheriff Mandy Miller, District Attorney John Adams and Judge Scott Lash.
No formal vote or change in policy was taken at the meeting. Kowalski and Garber urged the commissioners to reconsider the county's level of cooperation with ICE and to direct the prison board to review alternatives; the chair said the prison board is the appropriate body for such a change.
The meeting record does not show a motion to alter the current policy; residents and commissioners said further discussion would occur through the prison board process.
