When he was running for Lehigh County Exec, Josh Siegel attempted to portray himself as a moderate who has matured and who no longer participates in "Fuck the Police" rallies and who no longer doxes mayors. Now that he's in office, he's dropped the charade. He and his Bobbsey twin, Lehigh County Controller and Congressional candidate Mark Pinsley, called a press conference to announce that they were evicting ICE from office space in a Lehigh County building. Siegel said he was evicting them and "would not accept their blood money." Pinsley crowed, "We're going to deport ICE." Sounds good. I don't like ICE myself. Except what these two maroons are really doing is putting an end to a task force that investigates human trafficking out of those county offices.
These are the same two dumbasses who wanted to give you both an increased sales tax and a county income tax.
Commissioner Ron Beitler, unlike either Siegel or his sidekick, offers this insight into what really is going on.
Lehigh County was in the news today following a hastily assembled press event by the County Controller. Commissioners were notified only shortly before it occurred.
Before I get into what happened, I want to be clear about where I am coming from. I consider myself politically independent. I do not operate with a team mentality and I believe that shows in my posts. I try to start with 2 things. First, a factual foundation for decision making. Second, advocacy for what I believe is in the best interest of Lehigh County. Period. That approach does not always fit neatly into partisan boxes.
Today, the Controller and County Executive called for the immediate eviction of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from county owned office space in Allentown, asserting that a federal agency has occupied the space for years without a fully executed lease or rent payments.
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by Homeland Security Investigations on October 31, 2022. It was passed unanimously by a Democrat majority and signed into law by a Democrat executive. This was before the current political environment surrounding immigration enforcement.
The intent was for the office to work closely with the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement, particularly on investigations involving human trafficking and other serious crimes. Much of this productive collaboration has been driven by our world class County Regional Intelligence Center.
Today, nothing has changed with the scope of work occurring in that office space. It remains a human trafficking task force. Critically important work. 𝗜𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗜𝗖𝗘.
How do I know this? I picked up the phone and called the District Attorney and asked. Apparently neither the Controller nor the County Executive took the time to do the same. That is disappointing. Our District Attorney, who is well respected across the aisle, confirmed that the original intent of the agreement is being fulfilled and that the work being done there is exactly what it is supposed to be.
There is a legitimate issue that needs to be addressed. The lease and payment process stalled due to unresolved signature authority issues on the DHS side, which caused the MOU and subsequent lease to languish in the County Department of Law. That happens. Anyone who has dealt with intergovernmental agreements knows these issues can take time to resolve. This was a bureaucratic issue stemming on the fed side. DHS has indicated an intent to pay outstanding amounts once a fully executed agreement is in place. 𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼.
𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵.
This situation is being framed as something it is not. What we are dealing with is a federal bureaucratic failure and a stalled lease process, NOT an ICE operation in a county building and NOT a change in the work being done in that space. Conflating the two misleads residents and undermines trust in county government.
We deserve better than press release driven opportunism. We owe residents facts, coordination among elected officials, and decisions rooted in those facts rather than political theater. In today’s environment, careless implications about what is happening inside county facilities, especially when untrue, can inflame tensions and put people at risk.
Furthermore evicting the DHS from this county building is NOT evicting ICE (they aren't operating out of the building). It is evicting a critically important human trafficking task force. To think politicians would put that relationship at risk to score political points is.... well sad. I can't think of another way to put it. This whole thing is sad.
I don't do theater. Above is my understanding of this issue.
What questions do you have? I will do my best to answer them.
***𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘊𝘌. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭***
Readers of this blog know I think ICE is totally out of control. Just today, I viewed a news account about off-duty police officers who are American citizens being targeted by ICE in the Minneapolis area simply because of their skin color.
But leave it to Siegel and Pinsley to make ICE look good.
59 comments:
I happened by the federal courthouse in Allentown the other day and noticed that the glass in one of the front doors was covered with plywood. Any idea how the door was damaged?
There are several things to say about this post:
First, Ron Beitler is extremely competent and has his facts right. But as usual, he has researched and explained the situation to the point of putting people to sleep. Part of politics is being able to summarize your point into something that people can quickly understand and rallies them to action. That’s where Beitler falls short. It’s like he’s on the crew of the Titanic and is presenting an essay on the high likelihood of the ship hitting an iceberg. Yeah he’s right and his work is meticulous, but you’re still going to hit the iceberg because nobody is listening.
Next, it’s great that Beitler called the DA and got the facts. You know what would have been better? Having a DA with a spine that would hold his own press conference and let people know why what the Executive and Controller were doing is wrong. Instead, weasel Lehigh County DA Gavin Holihan apparently doesn’t have a problem with it. Remember that Holihan ENDORSED F-the-Police Siegel for Executive, so I have to assume by his silence that Holihan supports what Siegel and Pinsley are doing.
I can only hope that sanity returns to Lehigh County and both Holihan and Siegel end up being one-termers.
I do hope that Beitler stays on, but also fights a little harder for what he believes. It’s good to be intelligent and have your facts right. But it doesn’t mean anything if you’re not effective.
ICE is good it is doing great work getting rid of many criminals and you and left-wing lunatics cannot see this arid you are either very stupid, or you hate our country.
Why do you lie about ICE. They are a great Organization doing what the vast majority of people want--Don't give me these fake polls the fake media makes up. We voted for Trump and ICE is doing a great job despite the idiots who are trying to stop them.
The people in Lehigh County made a big mistake in voting in those democrats they will hurt the people in the county big time with taxes and spending.
Three years is a long time to not pay your rent. Where is the money? Why did Elon Musk and DOGE flag this situation for fraud? Actually, did Elon flag anything flag anything for fraud?
Based on all the reports, there appears to mission creeps in the DHS. We now have non white public works, off duty police, army reservist wife, army veteran, and disabled women all detained, and some without cause. What will the Board now do to ensure the mission of DHS in Lehigh County stays focused on drugs and trafficking?
If you are a legal citizen or have a green card, being stopped by ICE is no different than being stopped for a DUI check or showing an ID to get on a plane. Let's stop with the bullshit and remember there are about 20 million who should NOT be here and include criminals, terrorists, child molesters, and drug cartels. Are you OK with them too? If not, shut up and stop enabling them.
These 2 are idiots, fuck Seigel”defund Seigel and Pinsky
Lehigh County richly deserves their tax increases and their kids trafficked. Just as children can't pick their parents, they can't pick whom their parents elect. God help that county's little ones. They're in for a rough four years. What kind of sick mind does this to children?
Apparently both siegel and pinsky are graduates of the Alfred E Newman School of Social Graces and the Atilla the Hun Academy of Leadership. (tRUMP was one of their classmates). They are just bluster and photo opps. Both have proven over the years that they have no clue whatsoever of the consequences of their actions.
The conty shit show is the same as the city shit show as well as the state shit show three in the same.
Lehigh County voters: I hate Trump so much, I want children trafficked and abused.
It does seem that there is a reach for some anti-ICE headlines which the facts don't deserve. Having read the commisioner's response leads me to other questions tho: 1. Has it been over 2 years for the government to pay for the rent? 2. What results against human trafficing have been shown from using this space?
"𝗪𝗧𝗙 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼"
Received the following from an acquaintance familiar with the work of the human trafficking task force through an individual who works on the medical side of the issue. (details adjusted to protect identity):
PARAPHRASE: "𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘙 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘏𝘚, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘞𝘛𝘍 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰?”
You can have concerns with the federal government. I do. Reasonable folks can disagree with DHS leadership, policy or federal overreach. That's fair.
But the County Executive evicting a human trafficking task force because of those concerns? Impulsive. Short sighted. Bad for the County.
This task force was authorized to work in a county building through legislation unanimously approved in 2022 by a bipartisan Board of Commissioners. Its mission vital: identifying and stopping human trafficking in our community. According to our District Attorney that work continues. It could now be needlessly disrupted.
If the logic is that anything connected to DHS is unacceptable, where does it stop?
Do we evict TSA from the airport or decline FEMA assistance after a disaster? Do we reject federal cybersecurity support for hospitals and utilities? Of course not.
Discarding effective law enforcement partnerships to make a political point is not good governance. Its grandstanding. That's what this was. :(
I am so disappointed in the way this was handled by the Executive.
Yep those are two that make it easy to vote for the Republicans.
Ron Beitler is the real deal. Honest and fair. Hopefully one day the county exec. Then we will have real leadership.
These 2 are typical politicians no brains
This would be hilarious if it wasn’t so frightening. Blind leading the blind doesn’t even come close. What have Lehigh County voters done to themselves? Sure let’s get rid of the good guys! We think they are ICE and we want to stick it to them and Donald Trump. This performance of incompetence is just the beginning of a nightmare in that county.
Elections all across the country are being put under inspection. About time!
A driver can be stopped at a DUI check bc driving is a privilege, nit a right. But no law enforcement can stop you without a basis for believing criminal activity may be afoot. That's our constitution, I find it incredible that so many of you have no trouble with these gestapo tactics of demanding papers from someone simply on the basis of the color of their skin. We fought a war to protect ourselves from this kind of intrusion.
Mr. Beitler, as an elderly resident of Northampton County over most of my life, I’ll likely never get a chance to actually vote for you. Regardless, I will always have kind words about your service to citizens.
The country is half racist and Nazi.
Bernie is a modern day Paul Revere.
Thank you for your eternal vigilance, sir.
You are a hero of the people.
The tip Pinsley and Siegel recieved was given by the LVDSA at Monday's meeting, which is chock full of foreign spies for Iran, China, and lord knows where else.
I'm don't buy that our country is half racist or half Nazi and dislike intensely the ease with which those terms are used. But the shoe fits when it comes to what I have seen and read about ICE. They are stepping all over the constitution and Americans everywhere are beginning to notice. ICE cheerleaders in office will pay a price at the next election.
Having said that, what Siegel and Pinsley did was childish and completely misdirected.
Yes. China and Iran are very interested in what’s going on in Ironton and Wassergass.
Ron, you're one of the only adults in the room. Please continue to stand athwart this sad and dangerous period in county history. It will take more than simply yelling, "stop," however. Don't get weak in the knees. The county's children need you.
It’s not about a lack of intelligence, one is disturbed, the other is a totally sick individual.
We’re talking clinically sick.
In the new Allentown Josh and Matt will continue to represent the community as true leaders and outstanding roll models.
I've known all along that the extreme far left politicians [Irons, Pinsley & Siegel] who campaigned as normal Democrat party candidates, would cause much pain and suffering for county residents.
“…put under inspection” by exactly who?
Sorry/Not sorry, I vote Blue no Matter Who.
I still do have a lot of hope that Siegel can continue the good progress Armstrong made - continued economic development, keep taxes lower than Norco, provide additional resources to public defender office, get nursing home renovation done, protect farms, etc. But this is a bad flub up to act on the guidance of Pinsley. Siegel needs to become his own person and not Pinsley’s lackey.
Thank G_d Bethlehem and Allentown have strong, sane, competent mayoral leadership to act as counterweights to the County craziness.
Did we forget the real issue here? Pay your rent!!!!
Siegel & Pinsley are embarrassments- they're going to destroy Lehigh County- mark my word! I can't feel sorry for Lehigh County for electing these 2 morons.
Ron has been useless until this. I have no idea why he awoke from his long slumber but glad he did.
I was extremely disappointed in Gavin when he endorsed this shit head, Seigel! Lehigh County is so screwed! They've been voting lousy for years now. Lehigh is heading further and further away from its once former glory.
Really? For three years Pinsley didn't know this was in arrears. That's the real problem.
Siegel is mentally unstable.
You?
You’re delusional.
The “real issue” here is a county executive who is an unhinged ideologue.
Watch out in the--Democrats run as moderates but when they get in there look out. midterms
Siegel being his own person probably will not help him in Lehigh County as voters get to better know him.. He is a hard to like individual who mostly offers proposals that will be more popular with his ideological base than a wide cross section of county voters . His ideas are often practically difficult to implement, controversially expensive to finance and they rarely work out to create results that better the lives for large numbers of the people he claims to be trying to help.
The problem is there are no consequences for either of them. If there were, they would not be in these positions, but here we are. Lying or "misrepresenting" the truth is fine with JS.
Try reading for comprehension.
9:39 am said: “The country is half racist and Nazi”
Spare me the racist/Nazi crap. I just watched video of a group of your leftist thugs storm into a church while a service was going on.
The “crime” of those in the church? It was believed that one of the pastors of the church had a different opinion from the brownshirts who stormed in.
It’s very clear who the racists and Nazis are.
That was the fuck the police crew working under guidance of local NGO's.
I'm a Dem & Siegel supporter. I'm also appalled at how thuggish, poorly-trained ICE officers have veered from their mission of identifying & removing criminal undocumented migrants into harassing & arresting American citizens in full violation of Constitutional rights. Nonetheless, If this account is correct as stated, I have to disagree energetically with what's been done here.
Beitler is a breathe of fresh air in the stench of Lehigh County, where anyone w/ a pulse and D after their name gets elected!
Wow Siegel the beagle is already at it. What will his “ears” pick up next? Let’s see what the hound sniffs out. Woof woof doggie!
Siegel is a psycho so I’m not surprised he’s a sex trafficking sympathizer. Good luck Lehigh County!
Biden left millions of criminal illegals into this country just to get votes and you are an authoritarian on how ICE removes them? You feel they are “poorly trained” yet they risk their lives so you can have one and you are sympathetic to criminal illegals? Unbelievable.
This post should appear in the dictionary when looking up the definition of “sarcasm.” Brilliantly written.
I hear ya, but millions were let in, so mistakes will be made. With local cooperation, the chances are reduced for such mistakes.
They owe over 115,000 in back rent. They need to pay up. In the meantime let them find a new sucker to rent from .
we need BEYER !
I’d have more respect for Ron had he stepped up and ran for County Exec. The R’s literally put up a Democrat in Maclean. My question is with all of the facts and knowledge Ron has, why didn’t he run? Even as an Independent.
They never realize how hypocritical they come across.
Ok Mike. Pretty sure Justin Simmons destroyed your career and mom’s. How’s the basement?
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