Over 100 Community Members Pack Hudson Town Hall to Oppose Newly Contracted ICE Detention Facility
More than 100 community members filled the Hudson Town Council meeting the evening of Wednesday, July 15th to voice overwhelming opposition to the newly contract federal immigration detention center that will be operated by GEO Group. Residents, organizers, faith leaders, and immigrant rights advocates packed the meeting with around 50 community members speaking during public comment in opposition of the contract over several hours.
Community members were joined by advocates from organizations including Sanctuary for All Colorado, Mi Familia Vota Colorado, and Notes of Dissent. The meeting reflected a growing coalition determined to ensure that the future of Hudson is decided by its residents, not by a private prison corporation or the federal government.
At the center of the discussion is a proposed contract that would allow GEO Group to operate a federal immigration detention facility in Hudson out of the shuttered Hudson Correctional Facility. Residents repeatedly questioned why such a significant decision could move forward without direct community approval.
Speaker after speaker called on the Town Council to place the issue on a future agenda and create a process that would allow Hudson residents to vote before the detention center is approved. Many also urged town leaders to strengthen Hudson’s land use and zoning regulations to clearly define what types of developments are appropriate for the community, including prohibiting private immigration detention facilities that cage people who have not been charged of a crime.
Speakers repeatedly pointed to GEO Group’s operation of the Aurora ICE detention facility. They referenced the facility’s ongoing tuberculosis outbreak and testimony from people currently and formerly detained who have described being paid as little as $1 per day for work, provided insufficient food, and denied medical, dental, reproductive, and mental health care.
Community members also cited reports of verbal abuse, retaliation, and other inhumane treatment inside the facility. These conditions foreshadow what is to come to people detained in Hudson if the facility is to open. They urged Hudson officials not to approve a detention center that would bring the same pattern of abuse and neglect that has long been documented at GEO Group’s Aurora facility.
These experiences have left community with little confidence that the GEO Group should be contracted for another detention facility in Colorado.
Throughout the evening, speakers emphasized that immigration detention affects families, workers, and entire communities, not just the individuals held inside these facilities. Many argued that people held in ICE detention are frequently in civil immigration proceedings rather than serving criminal sentences, making the decision to expand detention infrastructure especially significant.
The message from Wednesday night’s meeting was consistent. Residents are asking Hudson’s elected officials to slow the process, increase transparency, strengthen local protections, and ensure that the community has the final say over whether an ICE detention center becomes part of Hudson’s future.
