1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to prevent the reopening of Hudson Correctional Facility as an immigrant detention center. According to documents obtained by the ACLU of Colorado through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Trump administration contracted with The GEO Group on December 1, 2025, to operate this dormant facility for comprehensive detention services. This 1,200-bed facility, located 30 miles northeast of Denver, operated for only five years after opening in 2009 before closing. It should remain closed. The expansion is part of a plan to triple ICE detention capacity in Colorado by adding 2,560 beds across three facilities, including the dormant Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg and the Southern Ute Indian Adult Detention Center in Ignacio. The lack of transparency surrounding this contract is deeply troubling. As Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, noted, ICE plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to detain people who have not been convicted of any crime, yet the contract amount and a 98-page justification document are completely redacted. The federal government awarded this contract without competitive bidding, raising serious questions about fiscal responsibility and proper oversight. This expansion follows $45 billion in funding for immigration detention, creating what GEO Group chairman George Zoley described in an August earnings call as an attractive opportunity for investors. Colorado should not become a profit center for private prison corporations detaining immigrants regardless of how long they have lived here, their family circumstances, or their lack of criminal records. As Governor, you have the authority to oppose federal overreach that harms Colorado communities and wastes taxpayer dollars on mass detention. I urge you to publicly oppose this contract, demand full transparency on how federal funds will be spent in our state, and explore every legal avenue to prevent the Hudson facility from reopening as an ICE detention center. Colorado deserves better than becoming a hub for mass immigrant detention driven by corporate profit motives.