U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is dropping plans to turn a Romulus warehouse into an immigration detention center, the state Attorney General said Thursday.
The agency instead will sell the facility, located at 7525 Cogswell Road.
“Romulus simply was not — and never would be — the appropriate place for a large-scale detention center,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement.
“The decision to sell the facility is a victory not just for the residents of Romulus, whose day-to-day life would have been negatively impacted by its presence, but for the entire metro region.”
The Department of Homeland Security plans to sell seven of the 11 warehouses intended to turn into immigration detention centers, or give them to other federal agencies, according to internal documents obtained by the New York Times. The agency purchased the warehouses for a total of $700 million as part of a plan to expand immigration detention space nationwide.
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Detroit News: “From day one, DHS has remained singularly focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the United States and is always evaluating the best methods to do so.
“DHS is moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
Nessel’s office and the city of Romulus sued ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in March, alleging that a detention center was inappropriate for the property near Detroit Metro Airport because of the possibility of flooding; concerns the site doesn’t have enough sewage capacity for a detention center; and its proximity to schools and residential neighborhoods.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer applauded Nessel for her efforts opposing the plan.
“The proposed ICE detention center in Romulus was widely opposed by the local communities,” Whitmer said in a statement. “I commend the efforts of Attorney General Nessel, Romulus Mayor (Robert) McCraight, and our state and federal lawmakers for putting a stop to this facility and ensuring Michiganders have a say in what happens in their own backyards.”
In the months after the plan was announced in February, protests in Romulus drew hundreds of participants.
“Our first responsibility as public servants is to protect Michiganders from any person, organization, or government that tries to bully them,” Lt. Governor Gilchrist said in a statement. “The people of Romulus made it clear that an ICE detention facility was not welcomed.”
DHS purchased the Romulus warehouse, covering about a quarter-million square feet, on Feb. 4 for $34.7 million.
bwarren@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: ICE abandons plans for Romulus detention center, AG says
Reporting by Ben Warren, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Ben Warren, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
