HUDSON, Colo. (KDVR) — Plans to convert a former prison in Hudson into a new immigration detention center are sparking controversy.
On Saturday, several dozen community members and immigrant rights advocates gathered outside the former Hudson Correctional Facility, which is slated to reopen later this year as an ICE facility. Demonstrators called on local leaders to block the project.
Jessica Hernandez, a resident of Greeley, said her family’s personal experience with immigration detention still affects them nearly two decades later.
“It’s going to cause panic with our community,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said her husband was arrested by immigration authorities in 2006 for being in the country unlawfully. He spent two months at a Texas facility and another four months at the Aurora detention center. While her husband was being held, she gave birth to their son.
“Unfortunately, he had to meet our son in the GEO facility. That sucks,” she said.
Hernandez said her husband was later deported, but has since returned to the U.S. as a legal resident.
Her sister Michelle, who asked not to be fully identified, said the proposed facility increases her anxiety as her husband works toward citizenship.
“I’m in fear because my husband is working on a process,” she said. “Every day I’m just scared we might get pulled over and both of us will get taken—or he might get taken. And we don’t need that here, honestly.”
The sisters joined other demonstrators who gathered at the closed facility Saturday, holding signs and chanting against the planned reopening.
“I think it’s very telling that it’s rural and isolated,” said Ann Scarritt, a Boulder resident. “They’re trying to keep it out of the eyes of urban folks. They’re trying to keep it hidden. So they know they’re full of shame of that.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday. However, in a previous statement to FOX31 in August, the agency said it had run out of room in the Aurora detention center after an increase in arrests. ICE said it is “exploring all options to meet current and future detention requirements.”
The Hudson Correctional Facility, which has 1,250 beds, has been closed since 2014. It was previously operated by GEO Group, the same private prison contractor that runs the Aurora facility.
The Hudson facility is expected to open by the end of 2025.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
