A Pennsylvania community is outraged by reports that as many as 1,000 immigrants are being and could be being held in a Civil War-era orphanage that more recently served as a summer camp.
The building, located in Scotland, a suburb of Gettysburg, is owned by a Lakewood, New Jersey-based limited liability company, but Greene Township officials, citing a letter from a representative of the Indiana-based disaster response organization USA Upstar, said they “want to use the building as a shelter.”[e] family.”
In an August letter to USA Up Star staff, Greene Township Zoning Officer Daniel Bachman wrote that the facility, which was recently used as a summer camp, falls under the R-1 (low density residential) code, which means higher density housing is not permitted.
Bachmann wrote that the company can appeal the ruling.
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Pennsylvania Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer/File)
Fox News Digital has reached out to USA Up Star for comment. On its website, the company describes itself as a “disabled veteran-owned business established in 2009 to provide best-in-class disaster relief, rescue and warfighter support during disasters, contingencies, surges and evacuations.”
The group eventually contacted Bachmann to say they were working with the federal government on the matter and wanted more zoning information from Greene Township, according to the letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg), a 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate who represents the area, said in an interview Friday that he is very concerned about the condition of the partially dilapidated Scotland property.
The retired Army colonel said an opaque wooden fence had recently been installed around the building, and that some critics were confusing its recent use as a summer camp with the idea that migrant minors were already being held there.
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Even if efforts to house migrants are ultimately successful, Mastriano said authorities still have tools to stop them.
He pointed to Letterkenny Army Base outside Shippensburg, noting that its tactical weapons and missile repair facilities have national security sensitivity and its proximity to Scotland could provide a bureaucratic block to migrant resettlement.
“It's going to turn the community upside down,” Mastriano said. “It's 1,300 people. [in Scotland village]” He noted that the number of migrants and staff could be equal to or greater than the town's current population.
Asked for further comment, Greene Township Supervisor Sean Cowell referred Fox News Digital to correspondence and other information about the matter posted on the township's website.
In a statement co-signed by Mastriano and state Rep. Rob Kaufman, R-Chambersburg, they praised Green Township for “its strict interpretation of the zoning ordinance.”
The lawmakers added that Pennsylvania has no jurisdiction over the matter but “got involved as soon as we heard rumors about the possibility of reuse.”
“This is our home. Our families live here alongside you and your families,” they wrote. “We have been working with Congressman John Joyce, who represents Franklin County, to keep federal funds from flowing into Franklin County for this purpose.”
Kaufman said the town would be “irrevocably changed” by the complex being converted into housing for unaccompanied migrant minors.
In response, Joyce, a Republican, has drafted an amendment to be added to the Department of Health and Human Services' annual appropriations bill, authored by Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama, that would prohibit the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) from using funds to “provide financial assistance or other support for the placement of unaccompanied alien children in privately owned or operated shelter facilities or housing.”
When reached for comment from the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families about whether it has a contract with an Indiana company, the agency said it couldn't provide an explanation or comment until Tuesday.
Franklin County Commissioners Dean Holst, John Flannery and Robert Ziobrowski said in a joint statement that many residents have expressed concerns about the matter.
“Franklin County is already experiencing a housing shortage, where affordable workforce housing and quality rental properties are at a premium. Our county's population has grown every year since our founding in 1784 and is now the 13th fastest growing county in the state,” they wrote.
“Adding thousands of new residents at once will only put more strain and stress on the housing market.”
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Commissioners also expressed concerns about the impact the reuse would have on public works and county services, but noted that neither the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania nor Franklin County has jurisdiction over the matter.
Mastriano added that he believes the entire controversy is the result of an “open border” with Mexico.
He said it is the “HC,” or Highway Commercial District, that is seeking rezoning, adding that this is not the first time the federal government has put Pennsylvanians in such a position, citing past migrant flights that have landed in Allentown and Avoca under the Biden administration.
