CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa. — There are growing concerns and calls for answers about what’s happening inside the largest ICE detention facility in the northeast.
It’s not far away.
The Moshannon Valley Processing Center is a privately owned and operated facility located in Clearfield County. That is about three hours from Pittsburgh.
It houses nearly two thousand detainees.
One of them recently died by suicide.
That’s led to protests - including one over the weekend
Today, local congresswoman Summer Lee tried to visit the facility.
She says she waited in the parking lot for an hour before she was denied access.
“We’re just here today to see if we can’t get in. They left us sitting - first of all - for over an hour,”
Lee, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, says Congress has a role in ensuring safe and humane conditions inside the facility.
Right now, she has lots of questions and few answers:
“Where people are coming from, whether or not they were moved from one detention center, from where have they come, how long is the average stay, whether or not folks have received medical treatment,” Lee said.
Lee says she’s not sure how many people from Western PA are being detained at the facility.
The protests come on the heels of the death by suicide in August of a 32-year-old man-- Chaofeng Ge Chow Feng Ji from China- who was being held at the facility.
He is the 12th detainee to die while in ICE custody this year... the first to die in ICE custody at Moshannon Valley in 2025.
ICE says Moshannon Valley has met or exceeded all standards for such a facility.
A spokesperson said in a statement.
“ICE takes the safety and security of those housed in our detention centers very seriously.”
Human rights activist Yannick Gill says many of the people are being detained, with families left in the dark
“When folks are snatched off the roads, snatched off the streets and their homes…part of the problem [is that] there isn’t a clear answer where they are taken,” Gill said.
We reached out to ICE for a statement specifically on Congresswoman Lee’s visit to Moshannon Valley.
A spokesperson said they are working to put a response together.
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