What would ICE detention facilities look like in Southern Colorado?
Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Trump administration is looking at bringing as many as six new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities to Colorado as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan, including two in Colorado Springs.
It comes as federal documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit show that five of six proposed facilities are in southern Colorado: two in Walsenburg, one in La Junta, and two in Colorado Springs. The last proposed location is in Hudson, which is northeast of Denver.
MORE DETAILS: Feds eye Colorado Springs for two new ICE detention centers
The two locations in Colorado Springs are what used to be a reentry center, and the other is a physical rehabilitation center. Now they’re both being eyed by the federal government as potential ICE detention facilities.
The Parkmoor Village Health and Rehabilitation Center has been vacant, with its windows boarded up, since the pandemic. It’s in the center of town, right off North Academy Boulevard, near Palmer Park. The building used to house people with serious injuries and illnesses, but soon it could become an ICE detention facility for low to high-security non-citizen detainees.
KRDO13 spoke with Jon, who lives nearby and doesn’t want to see any ICE activity in his neighborhood.
“They’re just arresting more people than they can determine whether they’re here illegally or not. So, I’m against any of that,” stated Jon.
However, KRDO13 spoke with others who believe a detention facility could be a good deterrent for crime in the area.
Further south on East Las Vegas Street, the Cheyenne Mountain Reentry Center is also being eyed as a potential ICE detention center. It’s located right next to the El Paso County Jail and used to be the last stop for people being released from state prison before it closed in 2020.
The proposals for both locations are preliminary, and no official decision has been made at this time.
The full proposals can be read here.
In a statement, El Paso County expressed strong support for the idea of bringing a facility here.
El Paso County Commissioners fully support the efforts of our federal partners, including ICE, to secure our borders, enforce immigration laws, and remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities. We have consistently supported President Trump’s strong border enforcement policies and value the ongoing work of our federal partners to help keep El Paso County safe—priorities that matter to our residents in the wake of President Biden’s failed catch-and-release policies, which have allowed dangerous criminals into our communities. While we are not directly involved and have no specific knowledge of ICE’s plans regarding local facilities, we continue to support their role in promoting national and community safety.
– The Board of El Paso County Commissioners
The City of Colorado Springs told KRDO13 it had no opinion, but clarified that it had not been involved in any of the planning conversations.
KRDO13 asked ICE for a comment on these proposals; they’re working on a response but have not yet responded.