Hickenlooper, Bennet, Pettersen Demand DHS Abandon Expansion of ICE Detention Facility in Hudson, CO

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet, and Representative Brittany Pettersen demanded that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem abandon the department's plan to open a new Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Hudson, Colorado.

"ICE is out of control," said Hickenlooper. "The proposal to open another ICE detention center in Colorado, this one in Hudson, takes a bad situation and makes it worse."

Hickenlooper learned of the new facility during an oversight visit at the Aurora ICE detention center last fall. This continued nationwide expansion of ICE operations comes after ICE, under Trump and Noem's leadership, detained 3,800 children last year alone. Changes in arrest practices by this administration have also led to a 2,450% increase in the number of people with no criminal record being held in ICE detention on any given day.

"ICE has lost its public trust and must be stopped until there is a complete overhaul of operations. They have been terrorizing our communities - conducting raids in secret and pulling people off the streets into unmarked cars, detaining children, and even killing American citizens in cold blood with impunity," said Pettersen. "There's not a chance in hell we're going to sit back and allow this rogue, lawless agency to expand their despicable operations in Colorado. My stomach is sick thinking about the families being ripped apart and the kids forced to endure a lifetime of trauma and heartbreak from losing their parents. A new ICE facility in Colorado won't make us safer - especially without guardrails to ensure basic, humane treatment of those at the facility. If DHS refuses to reverse course, we will continue to fight back against their unlawful practices and show up to conduct our duty to ensure oversight and accountability."

"The Trump Administration has brought fear and chaos to Colorado with their cruel immigration policies," said Bennet. "As ICE pushes to open a detention center in Hudson, we need more oversight, not less. Secretary Noem is also making it harder for us to visit these centers. This lack of transparency and accountability has to end. I will continue to push for necessary guardrails and critical reforms to DHS and ICE."

Hickenlooper has been outspoken in the face of ICE's lawlessness and demanded a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency to stop ICE from terrorizing our communities. Hickenlooper also voted against the DHS funding bill because it failed to overhaul ICE. He has consistently pushed for more oversight and transparency for federal immigration enforcement efforts, and has worked to help families desperately searching for loved ones arrested by ICE. Last month, Hickenlooper spoke on the Senate floor to denounce the horrifying killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, condemn the reports that families in Eagle County found "Death cards" left in the cars of family members taken by ICE agents, and to demand the overhaul of ICE. He's shown up at ICE facilities to conduct congressional oversight visits and raise concerns about ICE disregarding due process. He helped launch an investigation into ICE's unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight and introduced bills to ban ICE from wearing masks, prevent immigration enforcement from targeting schools, hospitals, polling locations, and places of worship, and cut back the excessive funding that MAGA Republicans gave them.

The full text of the letter can be found HERE and below:

Dear Sec. Noem and Director Lyons:

We write to express our profound concern regarding the reports of a letter contract with the GEO Group to operate a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Hudson, Colorado. As ICE agents continue to terrorize our communities, illegally detain U.S. citizens, and skirt congressional oversight of existing facilities, we strongly oppose the expansion of ICE detention beds in Colorado.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit demonstrate that ICE issued a letter contract for the GEO Group for $39,042,069 for six months of services for the so-called Big Horn Facility in Hudson. The letter contract was dated December 1, 2025, with all terms and pricing redacted. Additionally, ICE redacted more than 100 pages of documents purporting to justify why they should award a sole-source contract to the GEO Group for the Hudson facility without full and open competition. The operation of the Big Horn Facility for ICE detention would dramatically expand their detention capacity in the state, reportedly increasing the available detention beds from 1,532 at the Aurora GEO Detention Facility to more than 2,700 beds across the state.

We are deeply concerned that this expansion will lead to decreased oversight, reduced access to legal representation for detained individuals, and increased geographical barriers for visitors. The GEO Group and ICE have a demonstrated history of blocking Congressional oversight of the Aurora GEO Detention Facility by refusing Members of Congress access to the facility, withholding answers to oversight questions, and failing to respond to congressional casework inquiries. There is no reason to believe that these illegal actions will not be continued in the Big Horn Facility.

Additionally, immigration advocates across the state have raised concerns that locating a new facility in Hudson, which is significantly more remote and less accessible than the Aurora facility, will result in additional barriers to legal representation, advocates, and family members visiting the facility to meet with detained individuals. The Hudson location lacks comparable access to public transportation, is farther from legal service providers and advocacy organizations, and would impose added travel time and costs on attorneys and family members seeking to visit or meet with those detained. These obstacles risk delaying legal proceedings, limiting access to counsel, and undermining detainees' ability to maintain communication with family members. Given these concerns, we therefore seek clarity into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decision to authorize such a facility and what actions it will take to ensure those detained in the facility will have equal and adequate access to legal representation as their cases remain ongoing.

We strongly oppose the use of the Big Horn Detention Center as an ICE detention facility, and we urge DHS to immediately abandon plans to expand detention capacity in Colorado. Additionally, we request your response to the following oversight questions by March 13th, 2026:

1. Did the GEO Group receive a $39,042,069 six-month contract for the Big Horn Detention Facility when no individuals were detained at this facility? Please provide an itemized statement as to how that $39,042,069 was spent.

1. Please confirm the number of beds you expect the Big Horn Facility to hold.

1. What steps will the Department of Homeland Security take to share its plans for the new facility with relevant local leaders, community members, advocacy groups, and other relevant partners?

1. What steps will be taken to ensure that the Big Horn Facility will consistently meet adequate health and safety standards, as required by the Performance- Based National Detention Standards 2008, the Performance-Based National Detention Standards 2011, the National Detention Standards 2019, and the Family Residential Standards?

1. What steps will DHS take to ensure that the new facility will respond appropriately to congressional oversight as required under Pub. L. No. 118-47, div. C, tit. V 527 (a), 138 Stat 460, 619, and affirmed by Case No. 25-cv-2463?

1. How will DHS ensure that detainees within the Big Horn Facility maintain adequate access to family visitation and meetings with relevant counsel and representatives?

1. Are there any other contracts with the GEO Group for ICE Department of Homeland Security detention facilities in Colorado?

1. Have there been any discussions with local or county governments on the opening of Big Horn? Have the Weld County Health Department and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment been made aware of their inspection duties?

Sincerely,

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