“Godsend” or “#ConcentrationCamp”? A Lucrative #ICE Deal Divides a #Colorado Town.
Trump has unleashed a gold rush among #PrivatePrison companies taking on #ImmigrationDetention. In #CashStrapped cities, residents aren’t sure the money is worth it.
Isabela Dias, November+December 2025 Issue
Excerpt: "[T]he prospect of a privately run #ICE facility has divided #WalsenburgCO. Some locals and public officials have welcomed the potential influx of money and jobs. 'It’s a godsend,' Mayor Gary Vezzani told a TV reporter in early July. 'If they use it for ICE or use it for a prison or use it for whatever they use it for, we really don’t care…It’s a pretty big paying customer for us. We’re not big enough, nor [is] anybody here big enough to stop it. So, we may as well take advantage.'
"The mayor’s comments sparked fierce backlash. At a July 15 county commissioners meeting, one resident succinctly shot back: 'We don’t want to be known as a town with a concentration camp.' At a city council meeting the same day, a speaker argued that 'what’s happening in Walsenburg isn’t just #corrupt. It’s #fascist. It’s a blueprint for #authoritarianism wrapped in barbed wire and dressed up as local revival.' "
Read more:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/ice-detention-money-goldrush-concentration-camp-godsend-walsenburg-colorado-corecivic/
#USPol #CORECivic #Colorado #DetentionCenters #ICEDetainees #ICESucks #PrivatePrisons #PrisonState #IndefiniteDetention
CBC Newfoundland & Labrador
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