READING, Pa. - Berks County has delivered its formal response to the Pennsylvania auditor general's review of a county-owned facility contracted by the federal government to temporarily house families that are in the United States illegally.

The MacMain Law Group, a West Chester-based firm that represents the Berks County Residential Center, sent a letter Thursday on behalf of the county to state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to "correct the myriad of inaccuracies" in his review of the center, the results of which he announced during a news conference in Harrisburg last month.

"Berks County and the BCRC are disappointed in your "Review," both because of its gross characterizations and untruths and also because your office failed to obtain a first-hand analysis or review of operations," said Matthew J. Connell, the attorney who penned the seven-page letter.

"We stand by the information in our report," Barry Ciccocioppo, the auditor general's communications director, told 69 News on Thursday afternoon.

DePasquale called on the county to end its contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, which has been in place since 2001, claiming that the center in Bern Township "essentially functions as a jail."

"The BCRC," Connell said, "provides an avenue for the residents, undocumented illegal immigrants seeking asylum, to maintain family unity while ICE enforces immigration laws."

Connell said DePasquale was wrong to claim that he and his staff were denied the ability to tour the center during their review. He said the auditor general's office failed to comply with federal government guidelines that require information about the purpose of their visit.

"In fact, your office was advised that once they complied with the Federal Government's requirements, the Federal Government would permit them to tour the BCRC," Connell wrote. Rather than provide such information, your staff subsequently advised that it no longer wished to tour the BCRC."

Connell said inspectors with the state Department of Human Services, which licenses the 96-bed facility, have visited the center dozens of times since 2015 and have praised it for "the excellent work performed by employees and the quality of the facility."

"Clearly, if DHS had found any violations... it would have taken action," Connell stated. "Rather, as your 'Review' acknowledges ever so slightly in a single sentence, DHS officials have stated that the facility is 'an excellent facility.'"

The letter went on to point out that DePasquale's review contained no indication that he or his staff spoke to any of the DHS inspectors about their monthly visits.

"These individuals could have provided invaluable information as to what they see monthly during their inspections and what they learn from the residents themselves about the BCRC," Connell said.

The center is also inspected twice monthly by both the Department of Homeland Security and Danya International, a federal government contractor, according to Connell.

DePasquale is not the first public official to call for the center's closure. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont demanded the facility be shut down during his campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 race for president.

That same year, Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey led more than a dozen of his colleagues in calling on the Obama administration to close the center.

Copied on the county's letter Thursday were Casey and fellow U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey as well as Berks County's delegation of state and federal lawmakers.