Montgomery County To House Detainees In Eagleville Facility

By Brad Segall

EAGLEVILLE, Pa. (CBS) -- Montgomery County is moving forward with a plan to raise some badly needed revenue by housing federal detainees waiting to be deported.

The county will start negotiating a contract with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division to temporarily house the detainees at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville. Under the proposed deal, the federal government will pay the county with the money going into the operating budget.

"We have a newly expanded prison, we have the capacity, we have a warden who thinks outside the box and is creative in how he prioritizes his staff time and his resource hours," says Commissioner Chairman Josh Shapiro.

County officials say the average stay of those being deported would be about three days, and the prison will provide 60 beds--forty for adult males and 20 for adult females. The county cut the ribbon last September on the new, 512 bed, minimum security addition to help ease overcrowding.