Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the renovation, construction, and planned operation of a new civil immigration detention center in Hudson, Colorado. The filing argues the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must complete an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before proceeding, according to The Center Square’s Joelle Webb and cited court documents.
What the lawsuit asks the court to do
The suit, filed Tuesday, requests a court order to “halt the continued renovation, construction, and planned operation of a new civil immigration detention center in Hudson, Colorado,” per the court document reviewed by The Center Square. The filing states, “DHS and ICE have violated NEPA by contracting for the facility’s operation without considering the potential environmental impacts.”
The legal hook: an environmental review
According to the lawsuit, DHS and ICE must comply with NEPA before moving ahead. Weiser’s office also said in a press release that the federal government has conducted environmental reviews for immigration detention facilities in Texas and argued Colorado should receive the same treatment.
Weiser’s statement—and who hasn’t weighed in
“Coloradans are deeply worried about plans to open a new immigrant detention facility in Hudson to carry out the Trump administration’s inhumane — and often illegal — mass deportation scheme,” Weiser said in a press statement quoted by The Center Square. He added, “We’re asking the court to stop any further activities to open and operate the Hudson site until DHS and ICE conduct the legal analysis required by law.”
DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to The Center Square’s request for comment on the lawsuit.
Background: the Aurora fight and a reported TB outbreak
In August, Weiser sued the private prison company GEO Group to require compliance with state health and safety inspections at its immigration detention facility in Aurora, according to The Center Square. That legal push followed reports of a tuberculosis outbreak at the prison, after which county and state public safety and environmental health authorities ordered the facility to comply with state investigative procedures, per the outlet’s reporting.
GEO Group had already sued the state weeks earlier, alleging Colorado cannot impose statewide health and safety inspections on a facility operating under a federal contract, effectively arguing federal authority preempts state regulation, The Center Square reported.
What a federal judge already decided
Weiser’s earlier lawsuit against GEO Group did not prevail. A Trump-appointed federal judge blocked major provisions in Colorado’s House Bill 26-1276 by citing the federal supremacy clause, according to The Center Square’s account of the ruling. The decision meant the state could not require a federally funded facility to follow state-mandated orders over federal directives, as reported by the outlet.
What else The Center Square reports
The Center Square reports this new filing would be Weiser’s 84th lawsuit against the second Trump administration. The outlet also reports Weiser is running for governor against Republican Victor Marx and that his office tracks lawsuit statuses on its website in a section titled “Defending Colorado.”
