Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday challenging the federal government's plan to open an immigration detention center in Hudson, approximately 30 miles northeast of Denver.
The facility, to be operated by the GEO Group under contract with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would convert the former Hudson Correctional Facility into a 1,200-bed private immigration detention center. The correctional facility has been closed for 12 years.
The lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE violated multiple federal statutes and procedural requirements. According to the complaint, the agencies ignored "statutory duties to consider the potential environmental impacts of the facility, provide information to the public and arrange for civil immigration detention only in places appropriate for it."
Weiser's office contends that the federal government failed to undertake environmental, infrastructure, and health and safety reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act before authorizing the GEO Group to proceed with the project. The suit also raises concerns about a deer corridor located within a half-mile of the facility.
The detention center would be Colorado's second full ICE facility. The state already operates an ICE detention facility in Aurora, which is also operated by the GEO Group under a contract with DHS and ICE.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the facility from opening and asks the court to order the involved agencies to complete required environmental and procedural reviews. The case was filed in federal court as part of what officials described as a broader wave of legal challenges to the Trump administration's detention center expansion plans.