EBENSBURG — The Cambria County commissioners responded to public comments made Thursday about an agreement the county entered with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nearly a year ago.

In April 2025, the county approved a memorandum of agreement between ICE, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Cambria County Prison to allow for the identification and processing of removable aliens who’ve been arrested and booked at the prison.

Three county residents spoke out against the county’s participation in the 287(g) Jail Enforcement Model program, arguing the agreement raises serious questions about the cost to taxpayers, the legal liability for counties that hold people in immigration detainers and impacts the cooperation between the community and law enforcement.

President Commissioner Scott Hunt said the county has had agreements with ICE for “many, many years” and the only reason the county had to reenter the agreement in 2025 was because of changes made during the Biden administration regarding bathrooms in prison facilities.

“Our prison wasn’t built to have family-styled bathrooms and stuff like that,” Hunt said. “So we weren’t able to be part of the program then because of that.”

The issue isn’t a regulation anymore, which allowed the county to enter back into the program, Hunt said.

“My point is we’ve had agreements with ICE and marshals for many, many years,” Hunt said.

County solicitor Ron Repak Jr. clarified the agreement only allows the county’s officers to serve warrants within the Cambria County Prison.

During Thursday’s meeting, the commissioners approved a municipal bond insurance commitment letter with Build America Mutual Assurance Co. to insure the county’s series 2026 general obligation bonds at a rate of 0.58% of the bonds’ total debt services.

Repak said the dollar amount is about $58,912.

The commissioners also approved a cooperation agreement with Aerium, which allows the non­profit organization to pursue a local share account grant for its remote operations center drone hub at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport.

Commissioner Tom Chernisky said the agreement will continue the economy at the airport, where a lot of exciting work is being done with the drones.

Commissioner Keith Rager echoed Chernisky’s comments about the airport.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.