About a hundred protesters gathered Friday outside the dormant Huerfano County Correctional Facility in Walsenburg to voice opposition to the possibility that the mothballed site could be reopened to serve Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Huerfano County facility is one of three Colorado options ICE listed in its plans to expand the agency’s detention capacity to hold more than 100,000 immigrants while they await deportation, a goal linked to the Trump era’s push to increase enforcement and processing. Local organizers said the Friday protest involved a coalition of advocacy groups, including Speak Up Southern Colorado, with participants coming from as far away as Metro Denver and the San Luis Valley. For about two hours, protesters lined a nearby overpass and chanted or held handmade signs outside the campus.
A small group of private security personnel, hired by CoreCivic—the private prison company that owns the facility—was also on site. The county facility can hold about 1,400 inmates but has been dormant since the 2010s. Local leaders have pointed to the area’s high unemployment as a potential upside to reopening, with CoreCivic having posted a July job listing for detention officers in Walsenburg, suggesting some local economic activity could follow if the facility were activated.
Jason Valdez, a local resident and organizer with Speak Up Southern Colorado, acknowledged the employment concerns but rejected the notion that reopening the facility would constitute long-term development for the town. “If local leaders really want economic development in this town, they should be focusing on the everyday people who want to open up businesses here—the mom and pop shops—not opening up a concentration camp for people that just came to this country looking for a better life,” Valdez said.
CoreCivic responded to questions about the facility and its proposed use with a statement from Senior Director of Public Affairs Ryan Gustin. He emphasized that CoreCivic has supplied detention services for ICE and its predecessors for four decades, and that the company adheres to high standards of care and undergos independent audits. He noted that CoreCivic does not make arrests or enforce immigration laws, nor does it have any role in deciding an individual’s deportation or release. “The services we provide help the government solve problems in ways it could not do alone— to help create safer communities by assisting with the current immigration challenges,” Gustin said. “These are problems the American public has made clear they want fixed.”
Aurora resident Alondra Flores attended the protest with her two young children. An immigrant who arrived as a child, Flores said the United States is the only home she has known and stressed that her own family’s opportunities are tied to the protections offered by the country she now calls home. “It is because of my parents bringing me here that my kids are now able to live that American dream along my side,” she said. “We are not criminals.”
ICE documents obtained by The Washington Post show that the other Colorado facilities listed for potential expansion include the 1,132-person capacity Big Horn Detention Facility in Hudson and the 28-person capacity Southern Ute Indian Adult Detention Center in Ignacio.
Context surrounding the protests underscores a wider tension: while some communities fear the loss of potential jobs if a key local facility remains shut, others worry about the growth of private detention centers and the treatment of detainees. The Walsenburg protest reflected concerns that reopening the site could expand a system many see as punitive and privatized, even as opponents recognize the possible short-term economic benefits for a town grappling with unemployment.
What comes next remains uncertain. No formal contract to reopen the Huerfano County facility has been announced, and ICE’s broader plans to expand detention capacity are part of a larger national debate about immigration policy, detention conditions, and the role of private operators. Activists called for sustained attention to the human impact of detention and urged local leaders to pursue economic development strategies that don’t rely on confinement.
Possible follow-ups for editors and readers:
– Confirm whether ICE has moved beyond the planning phase toward any binding agreements with CoreCivic or the county.
– Track any new job postings or workforce development efforts tied to the facility’s potential reopening.
– Gather reactions from additional local business owners about how a reopening might affect the town’s economy beyond the potential for detention-related jobs.
– Monitor federal updates on ICE’s nationwide capacity expansion and how Colorado facilities fit into the broader strategy.
In brief, the demonstration highlighted a clash between economic anxieties in a high-unemployment area and concerns about the growth of privately run detention centers for immigrants. The situation remains fluid as community members, the private operator, and federal agencies navigate the next steps.
If you’re looking for a quick takeaway: residents want jobs, but many oppose turning a dormant jail into a detention center. The coming weeks and months will reveal whether any formal plans advance and how local leaders balance economic interests with concerns about immigration enforcement and inmate welfare.