TOP VIEW

NEWS

Prisons Targeted for Reopening by ICE:

Marana, AZ: ICE published a sole-source notice of intent with MTC to provide detention services for the 500-775 bed facility. Pima Resists ICE and local politicians oppose the facility.

Dublin, CA: The Dublin City Council adopted a resolution opposing the reopening of the former prison as an ICE facility. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors also passed a resolution opposing the use of FCI Dublin for ICE. Advocacy groups, including ICE Out of Dublin Coalition, have held protests and sponsored campaigns against the reopening.

Hudson, CO: This 1200-bed GEO Group managed facility is under a 5-year contract for roughly $85M annually. Colorado lawmakers, including both Senators, stand firmly against opening the facility. In Sep 2026, GreenLatinos and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) filed a NEPA lawsuit against DHS alleging the agency failed to complete the necessary environmental studies. A separate lawsuit alleges the town has not properly used its zoning authority. In late Sep 2026, the Attorney General of Colorado filed another federal lawsuit accusing ICE of failing to follow NEPA guidelines.

Walsenburg, CO: Identified as a potential site of interest in FOIA documents, local protests of this CoreCivic site have been ongoing since early 2025. Residents of Walsenburg will vote in November on a ballot initiative to prohibit detention centers in the town.

Appleton, MN: DHS recently purchased the 1600-bed Prairie Correctional Facility to reopen it for ICE detention. CoreCivic signed a roughly $75M annual contract to manage the Appleton site with detainees potentially arriving in Oct or Nov 2026. The sale of the site to the federal government removed a significant tax base from the local area. CoreCivic has entered negotiations regarding non-binding compensation payments. Local news reported that locals are divided over the issue of the facility reopening. Prayer vigils and protests have been held at the facility.

Winton, NC: Expected to partially open Nov 1, 2026, the facility is expected to be at full capacity by Dec. A statewide protest is planned for Nov 21. In July 2026, the GEO Group signed a 5-year ($80M annually) contract to run the 1320-bed former Rivers Correctional Facility. There is heavy pushback to the reopening which would provide ICE with one of the largest detention sites on the East Coast.

Headlines

Oct 16: The Trump administration threatened to criminally prosecute local CA election workers who tabulate noncitizen ballots. The treats came the day after the DOJ sued CA over claims the state refused to purge noncitizens from voter rolls. Experts believe the lawsuit is unlikely to succeed but the real damage is calling election outcomes into question.

Oct 16: NY City Mayor Mamdani, along with more than 100 state officials, signed a letter urging parking lot and garage owners to deny access to ICE. The measure fills the gap left by private ownership of parking lots in the city. The city already restricts city-owned properties from ICE. The letter could serve as a model for other communities since ICE is still looking for parking spaces across the country.

Oct 17: Meta suspended the No Kings Instagram account on the day of the event causing a social media disruption.

Oct 17: A demonstration was held outside the Diamondback Correctional Facility in OK. Protestors showed support for detainees and raised concerns about conditions inside. Advocacy groups are alarmed over access to medical care, food issues, and communication problems with lawyers at the CoreCivic facility.

Oct 18: NoCCUS reported that the Aurora GEO contract was extended through Dec 15^th, 2026. This may indicate that DHS is negotiating a deal to buy the facility rather than issuing a follow-on contract which was expected in Oct. DHS may also be doing the same with another two GEO sites previously identified. (Broward Transitional, FL now expires Feb 27, 2027, and Moshannon, PA now expires Mar 2027). Only the NW Processing Center (Tacoma) has a contract that expires this month.

Oct 18: Immigrants from Ukraine and Sudan will retain their TPS for now. Although the administration has denounced TPS and revoked it for more than 1 million immigrants from over a dozen countries, Ukrainians and Sudanese along with Salvadorans await final determination by the administration.

Oct 19: Local reporting in Denver revealed that Denver International Airport (DIA) plays a more significant role in ICE air than previously understood. Local carrier, Key Lime Air, which has been the subject of continuous protest, accounts for only 20% of ICE air flights. Four other private airlines account for the remainder of the traffic. Both the city of Denver and DIA were surprised by the results of the 9News story.

Oct 19: The stop work order due to a protest by a competing bidder on the transportation contract in TX affecting 254 counties was resolved. Gardaworld won the contract and resumed work under 287g agreements.

Oct 20: Project Salt Box reported that CBP hired a contractor to review body camera video and cellphone data in cases challenging CBP’s legal authority. The action was taken with a no-bid contract for up to $9.2M citing an urgency that would cause “unacceptable delays.”

Oct 20: The Marshall Project filed a federal lawsuit against ICE and CBP to force the agencies to disclose the names of people currently in custody. The lawsuit was filed to force ICE to conform to the same basic accountability and public disclosure as local police.

Oct 20: The former prison known as Rivers Correctional facility in Winton NC will open under GEO Group on Nov. 1. It will become fully operational as a detention facility by Dec 1. On Nov 21, there will be a statewide protest to shut down the facility.

Oct 21: KXAN Austin reported that ICE was staging operations from private parking lots in Austin. US Rep Greg Casar urged owners and operators of parking lots not to rent or lend parking to ICE for these operations in a statement released by his office.

Oct 23: The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Congress intended to restrict the availability of release for people facing deportation even if they have lived in the country for years without criminal records and attended their check-ins. The ruling supports the Trump administration’s year-old policy of mandatory detention for those who entered the country without permission even when the policy has been rejected by over 450 district court judges. Additionally, 9 of the 11 appeals court circuits also reject the policy. The Supreme Court will weigh in on the issue this term.

Oct 26: NPR reported that thousands of immigrants are stuck abroad without visas despite a court ruling. In January, the administration banned the processing of immigrant visas from 75 countries. 280,000 people were affected at the time. A court ordered the ban to be lifted in August. Instead, the administration decided to slow walk the visa process. Citing training delays, the administration has affectively stranded thousands across the world since January with few options.

Oct 27: The Supreme Court denied an emergency request by three cities to halt the deal that ended a practice called “administrative closure.” The decades old practice allowed immigration judges to clear certain deportation cases off busy dockets.

Oct 28: Wired reported on how ICE is running one of the largest anti-left surveillance operations in history. Lawyers for 15 people facing federal conspiracy charges during the surge in MN have uncovered wide-ranging ICE spying activities. “What we saw during the immigration surges last year was that ICE is the administration’s paramilitary force, the projector of strength,” Riach says. “Here, we see that HSI are taking the FBI’s place as the investigative secret police—it’s the classic one-two punch of authoritarian regimes around the world.”

Oct 28: Wired reported a massive data leak exposing 41,000 DHS workers. The names of workers, agencies, facilities, cell phone numbers, and chain of command information were key elements leaked in searchable form.

Oct 29: A ten-year contract was signed between the GEO Group and DHS to run the NW Processing Center. The $1.5B contract will fund the 1,575-bed facility in Tacoma, WA. This was one of the four facilities that have been watched for possible government purchase.