Clearfield County’s only Democratic commissioner is raising concerns over U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and says he will vote against renewing its contract with the GEO Group operating the Moshannon Valley Processing Center.
The contract isn’t up until the end of September 2026, and the other two county commissioners say they will vote to renew the contract. Still, Dave Glass said he felt it was important to take a stance in light of recent reports of violent actions by ICE, especially in Chicago. He referenced a September 30 ICE raid in an apartment building, which led to children and the elderly in zip ties, American citizens being detained and broken property.
“I don't really think Clearfield County should be involved when ICE is acting like this,” Glass said.
The Moshannon Valley Processing Center has been the center of ACLU lawsuits and protests. In August, hundreds of people from across the state protested in Philipsburg, about ten minutes from the facility. A month before that, Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old Chinese man, died in the facility while awaiting an immigration hearing. Currently, there are two high profile figures detained at Moshannon: Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam.
Glass said he hasn’t seen any human rights violations when touring the facility.
“If I saw evidence to the contrary, I would definitely point it out,” Glass said. “But at this moment, my beef is not with GEO or the people working there. It's primarily with ICE.”
Spotlight PA reports that Clearfield County will make $1 million over five years from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center.
“When I see these kind of things going on and the money is flowing through our county and we're actually getting a piece of it, it doesn't sit well with me,” Glass said. “Whether or not there's other support for it. Right is right and wrong is wrong. And it just feels wrong.”
Tim Winters, a Republican who chairs the Clearfield County commissioners, said the end of the contract with the GEO Group is still a year away, but at this point, he doesn’t see a reason not to renew.
“As county commissioners, national immigration policy and ICE policies/procedures are not within our scope,” Winters said in an email to WPSU. “Our concern is that those housed within our county boundaries are afforded protection under the law, proper medical care, and access to family and legal representation.”
Winters said he made multiple visits to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center and he is “confident that those standards are being met and often exceeded.”
Winters added that he believes the federal government would find a way to keep Moshannon open, even if Clearfield County Commissioners ended their contract with the GEO Group.
CORRECTION: An original version of this story left out the first name of Commissioner Dave Glass.
