Josh Siegel says the county will sever ties with the Department of Homeland Security claiming federal officials failed to pay rent.
Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel moved swiftly this week to terminate a lease agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, citing unpaid rent and concerns about the federal agency’s conduct, just weeks after taking office.
“I am immediately terminating our lease agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They should consider themselves evicted,” Siegel said Tuesday in a statement. “The department’s failure to pay rent, combined with DHS’s national reputation for recklessness, chaos, and public disorder, warrants ending any relationship with the County. We will not accept their blood money.”
Siegel said his administration will take “all necessary steps to enforce the lease termination and protect the interests of Lehigh County residents,” reportedly framing the decision as both a fiscal and governance matter.
The announcement followed a letter from Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who disclosed that an arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement owes the county $115,425.51 for use of county-owned office space in the Hamilton Financial Center in Allentown.
Pinsley’s memo to Siegel and the county board of commissioners outlined a series of contractual breakdowns dating back to late 2022. According to the controller, the county entered into a memorandum of agreement with Homeland Security Investigations — a law enforcement division within ICE — in November 2022 for office space. The agreement, approved by county commissioners, allowed federal agents to occupy the building beginning Dec. 1, 2022.
The memorandum was set to expire on Sept. 30, 2023. However, Pinsley wrote that DHS later determined the federal official who signed the agreement lacked the authority to do so. A subsequent standard lease agreement, covering Oct. 1, 2023 through Sept. 30, 2026, was drafted but never fully agreed to by both parties.
“While the MOA was agreed to, both parties have not agreed to the terms of a lease agreement which is still pending to date,” Pinsley wrote. “As such, no payment has been made by HSI to the county since the commencement of the MOA and lease agreement on December 1, 2022.”
The controller’s memo recommended issuing a formal determination of unpaid rent, serving an eviction notice and pursuing legal options to recover the funds. Pinsley described the situation as a “calamity of errors” and noted that HSI had indicated it intended to pay once lease terms were finalized. Pinsley is running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th District and was very critical of ICE.
“This organization’s actions terrorize neighborhoods and create fear rather than safety. Conduct of this kind is incompatible with democratic governance,” he wrote. “I think the county should be unequivocal and tell ICE: Pay your bills, pack your stuff, and get out!”
In his statement, Siegel tied the lease termination to his concerns about community trust.
“Let’s be clear: Public safety relies on the public’s trust in local law enforcement – the appearance of collaboration with ICE/DHS means victims of trafficking, drugs and violent crime will be less likely to come forward,” he said. “The only way to ensure that local residents continue to trust us is to wash away the stain of DHS’s presence in our buildings. That is (the) fault of this administration in D.C. that has made the public and our officers less safe.”
County officials have not said how quickly DHS personnel will be required to vacate the space or whether legal action will follow to recover the reported unpaid rent.
