HUDSON, Colo. — The Trump administration is looking to expand the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities in Colorado as part of the president's plans for mass deportations.
According to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), several companies have submitted pitches about converting six facilities to detention sites: two in Colorado Springs; two in Walsenburg; one in Hudson; and one in La Junta.
Several of the facilities have not housed people for several years.
- View a map of the proposed locations below
Roughly 30 miles northeast of Denver lies the town of Hudson. It's home to 1,650 people and the Hudson Correctional Facility, one of the locations pitched to ICE.
The facility was built in 2009 and has been without prisoners since 2014. ICE documents say it has been “very well maintained” and could reopen within a matter of six months.
In a statement to Denver7, an ICE spokesperson said the agency needs “greater detention capacity” and “is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements.”
- Read the full statement from an ICE spokesperson below:
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enhanced enforcement operations and routine daily operations have resulted in a significant number of arrests of criminal aliens that require greater detention capacity. While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements."
Denver7 traveled to Hudson on Friday to hear from town leadership and residents about the proposal.
"As far as my stance, it's not about being political," said Hudson Mayor Joe Hammock.
Town Manager Bryce Lange reiterated that sentiment.
"We are a small population of 1,650 people, so to think we would be able to move the needle one way or the other with an ICE facility coming here, it's just not realistic," said Lange.
Lange explained there's always been interest in the private prison since it shuttered more than a decade ago after its lease with The Geo Group was terminated.
"Everything from a vocational school to just different uses, including a data center," he explained.
Hammock said he recently toured the facility and said it looks "brand new". However, Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado's legal director, is worried about the message a Colorado expansion would send.
"There's now an incentive for private companies to advocate to this administration to detain more people," Macdonald said.
- View all of the ACLU's documents below
While ICE works to figure out plans for the future, Hammock said his town is focused on preparing for the possibility.
"The way I look at it is like any business that wants to open up in Hudson," Hammock said. "If they come in, we will support them."
