Locals voiced concerns that an uptick in unvetted migrants would strain their community and threaten the safety of residents.
Local officials say the former Scotland School for Veterans Children in Franklin County has been mentioned in talks about converting it into a migrant shelter. USA Up Star, an Indiana-based disaster response company, currently owns the property and reached out to the Greene Township Board of Supervisors to ask if local zoning laws allowed for it to be converted into a shelter. The building, built in 1895, was initially used as an orphanage for the children of Pennsylvania soldiers. It would later be a school for military veterans and active-duty personnel. It has been closed since 2009.
The board denied their request, saying current zoning requirements and land use regulations prohibited it from being used in such a way. While USA Up Star can try to appeal the board’s decision to the Greene Township Zoning Hearing Board, they have not yet done so. If approved, the building would be a “shelter for families seeking refuge” while they wait to be united or reunited with family members they were separated from at the U.S.-Mexico border. USA Up Star said they would be “working closely” with the federal government on the potential project.
The September 10 Greene Township supervisors’ meeting was packed with residents worried about the proposed project. Resident Sue McPhail said, “Our concern is we have no idea who these people are. They’re unvetted. We don’t know where they came from. We don’t know if they’re involved in gangs. We don’t know if they’re drug traffickers, sex traffickers.”
Supervisors at the meeting assured the crowd that no plan had officially been proposed. Mike Ross with the Franklin County Area Development Corporation added, “Depending on the timing of the project and in this particular case, we’ve been led to believe that to delay months, or a year or more, would probably be unacceptable.” Franklin County commissioners voiced their concerns in a statement, saying such an increase in population would strain basic city services, the school system, and emergency personnel.
The Franklin County commissioners’ concerns come just after a similar migrant crisis occurred in Charleroi, just outside of Pittsburgh. With a population of just 4,000, they saw a 2,000% increase in migrants over the past two years. This has greatly impacted their economy, according to officials. Larry Celaschi, a Charleroi Councilman, commented, “We can’t even make ends meet with our budget as it is. And so now, where are we going to get this extra revenue to pay for them?”
This, along with the recent Venezuelan prison gang members who took over an Aurora, Colorado apartment building last month, has only fueled local fear in Franklin County.
