Congressman Mackenzie Condemns Decision to Evict Federal Law Enforcement

Allentown, PA - Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), representing the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos, called out the decision by Lehigh County Controller Marc Pinsley and Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel to evict Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers from their offices in a county-owned building.

The Morning Call reports, in part: "Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel said he is evicting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigative unit from a county-owned building where it has occupied an office for more than three years but has never paid rent.

"The announcement came shortly after Controller Mark Pinsley held a news conference saying Homeland Security Investigations, a unit of ICE, owes the county more than $115,000.

"We're going to deport ICE," Pinsley said at the news conference Tuesday at the Lehigh County Government Center.

As District Attorney Gavin Holihan has made clear, the department is staffed by Homeland Security Investigations - a branch of the Department of Homeland Security that is not directly responsible for the arrest and deportation of illegal aliens.

From HSI's website: HSI conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States. HSI's investigations are wide ranging - our cases include drug and weapons smuggling, cyber and financial crime, illegal technology exports and intellectual property crime. We also play a crucial role in investigating crimes of exploitation. This includes combating child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud and scams and other crimes against vulnerable populations.

"Politics should never get in the way of allowing law enforcement to do its job," said Congressman Mackenzie."Instead of negotiating in good faith with HSI, Mr. Pinsley has chosen to attack an office that - I'm sure he knows - works to investigate human trafficking and other serious threats. This decision interferes with the work of those responsible for investigating some of the most heinous crimes imaginable, all in the name of radical politics. Law enforcement and the people of the Lehigh Valley deserve better than politically motivated stunts from self-interested extremists."

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