Advocates say planned Colorado ICE facility violates environmental laws

The Department of Homeland Security intends to build a new immigrant detention facility to house more than 1,200 individuals in rural Hudson, Colorado.DENVER (CN) — Two advocacy groups sued Department of Homeland Security on Monday, claiming the federal government failed to complete an environmental impact assessment for a new immigrant detention facility proposed for Hudson, Colorado.“ICE completely failed to conduct any analysis under National Environmental Policy Act for Big Horn. This seems to be a pattern of illegal activity by ICE,” the two Colorado-based advocacy groups, GreenLatinos and Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, write in the 46-page complaint.The groups argue federal law requires the government to assess the environmental impact of potential infection diseases, air pollution and water use related to a proposed 1,250-person detention facility.Even though it is being developed on a former state prison’s lot, the plaintiffs argue the facility’s target population would nearly double the current population of rural Hudson, located 30 miles northeast of Denver.The lack of an assessment, the plaintiffs argue, leaves many stakeholders in the dark about the project.“By illegally failing to conduct a NEPA analysis, ICE has denied itself, members of the public and Colorado elected officials, including its U.S. Senators and a member of Congress, critical information about the consequences of ICE’s choices and actions, opportunities to mitigate adverse impacts, and the opportunity to submit comments to obtain better outcomes,” the plaintiffs write.The state’s only current immigrant holding center, the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, is managed by the GEO Group — a contractor that is also anticipated to run the proposed Big Horn Detention Facility in Hudson.In December, the federal government signed an initial $39 million contact with GEO to manage the Hudson facility for six months. In July, GEO announced obtaining a five-year contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to manage the facility, generating an estimated $85 million each year.In the complaint, GreenLatinos and the coalition question GEO’s ability to manage infectious diseases, particularly in light of a reported tuberculosis outbreak at the Aurora facility earlier this year.Colorado’s democratic attorney general, Phil Weiser, sued Geo in August seeking access to health records needed to investigate the incident.Geo sued the state in June, securing a partial injunction last month to block new expansions of the state’s ability to inspect the facility.In addition to disease, the community groups question the proposed facility’s impact on air pollution in an area infamous poor air quality, putting Colorado under heightened restrictions with the Environmental Protection Agency to bring air quality into compliance with federal requirements.In the complaint, one 73-year-old member of the Colorado Immigration Rights Coalition said she worries about the impact of the facility on air quality and local protected areas like the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge where she goes birding.In addition to the advocacy groups, several residents sued the Hudson town council in July seeking to block facility construction from moving forward.Citing the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the plaintiffs ask the court to order an injunction to fault construction until the federal government completes an environmental assessment.GreenLatinos and the coalition are represented by Boulder attorney Robert Ukeiley, who did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads