FORTY FORT — While officials with the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority have insisted that the planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices at the authority headquarters wouldn’t have a holding cell or be used for overnight detention, it appears the facility will be equipped to detain people — at least temporarily.
Design plans included in the authority’s bid package include two “prisoner restraint stools” in the proposed space that will be leased by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, or ICE.
An activist group opposed to the ICE lease held photos of the design plans and the stools with handcuffs at the authority’s monthly meeting Tuesday and at a news conference beforehand.
Chris Belleman, executive director of the authority, said Homeland Security and ICE perform law enforcement functions, so it’s no surprise they would have restraint devices in their offices.
“This is nothing new. HSI is simply relocating their admin offices from Scranton to Forty Fort. I imagine whatever setup they had in Scranton will be duplicated here in Forty Fort,” Belleman wrote in an email Wednesday. “HSI is involved with police enforcement. I would anticipate that all police agencies across the country do not allow suspected criminals to wander through their offices but have some restraints to protect officers and staff.”
Committee members of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority hold a meeting on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Michael Nicotera, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, attents a Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority meeting with a grahic of the intended use of space for the Department of Homeland Security in the LCFPA building on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Design plans for ICE’s offices at the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority in Forty Fort include two “prisoner restraint stools” with handcuffs
The authority’s bid package prepared for the proposed ICE office shows blueprints that include a lobby/waiting room, open office space with cubicles, a kitchenette, a conference room, and storage rooms. Proposed prisoner restraint stools with a set of handcuffs are to be bolted to the ground on each end of the space, including one in the corner of the conference room, according to the plans.
In one document on authority letterhead outlining the “interior material and finishes specifications,” there is a description of the stool manufactured by Prisoner Bench LLC.
“The prisoner restraint stool is an ideal way to secure a prisoner or detainee safely and securely,” the document says.
The stool will be “tenant provided” and “contractor installed.”
The authority voted in April to approve a $160,417 contract for general construction with Bognet, Inc. of Hazle Twp. and a $154,610 contract for electrical construction with Larry McCullion & Son Electrical Construction Services of Summit Hill.
The federal government will reimburse the authority for the cost to renovate the space for ICE, authority officials have said.
Efforts to reach representatives with ICE and Homeland Security were not immediately successful on Wednesday.
ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration laws, which includes deporting immigrants who are not authorized to be in the United States. Deportation efforts have ramped up significantly under the administration of President Donald Trump.
The authority is responsible for maintaining the 16-mile Wyoming Valley Levee System along the Susquehanna River and has offices on Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort near the Wyoming Valley Airport.
Authority officials say the decision to rent space to ICE was not political and they were looking to lease unused space in its headquarters.
In October 2024, while Joe Biden was president and before Trump was elected, the authority voted to lease 1,929 square feet of space to ICE for $28,935 in total annual rent for the first year.