GEO Group

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a new ICE detention facility planned for Hudson, about 30 miles northeast of Denver. The facility would occupy the former Hudson Correctional Facility, closed for 12 years, under a contract between the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and private prison operator GEO Group—the same company that runs the Aurora ICE facility. Plans call for renovating the site into a 1,200-bed private immigration detention center, which would nearly double Hudson's population.

The lawsuit alleges DHS and ICE failed to meet statutory obligations to assess environmental impacts, inform the public, and ensure detention sites are appropriate for civil immigration custody. Weiser's office is asking the court to halt further activity until an environmental review and legal compliance documentation are completed. DHS dismissed the suit as a political effort to obstruct immigration enforcement rather than a genuine environmental concern. The case follows a separate lawsuit filed in July by advocacy groups against the town of Hudson over the same project.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., made an unannounced visit to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, a GEO Group-run ICE facility, after reports of a hunger strike, poor food and troubling living conditions. Accompanied by Rep. Emily Randall, D-Wash., Dexter said facility staff initially denied any hunger strike was underway, showing records for two units with no refused meals. But a detainee from a different unit told the lawmakers that units G3 and G4, housing roughly 140 people, were participating, with nearly all detainees in G4 refusing meals for four days.

Dexter and Randall were barred from touring the medical unit, and all visitations were halted during their visit. They also heard an unverified report of two deaths at the facility this week, along with concerns about inadequate medical care for detainees with diabetes and chronic illness. Dexter called the contradictory information "incredibly frustrating" and plans to send a formal follow-up letter seeking answers from federal officials.