Advocates say planned Colorado ICE facility violates environmental laws
GreenLatinos and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition sued the Department of Homeland Security, alleging ICE never conducted the environmental review required before building a 1,250-person detention facility in Hudson, Colorado, a town of roughly 1,600 people. The 46-page complaint says the agency skipped assessment of infectious disease risk, air pollution and water use, leaving local officials and residents without basic information about the project's impact.
GEO Group, which already runs Colorado's existing detention facility in Aurora, is slated to operate the new site under a contract initially worth $39 million for six months and later expanded to a five-year deal worth an estimated $85 million annually. The complaint notes a tuberculosis outbreak at the Aurora facility earlier this year and Colorado's ongoing struggle to bring air quality into federal compliance in the region.
Neither DHS nor GEO Group's federal contract office responded to requests for comment. The plaintiffs are asking a court to halt construction until an environmental assessment is completed.
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