Pierce County advances plan for temporary ban on new detention facilities | king5.com

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Leaders in Pierce County advanced a proposal Monday that would temporarily halt the creation of new detention facilities. It would impose a six-month moratorium on new detention centers, including those used by federal immigration authorities.

The Pierce County Council voted to move the measure out of committee, clearing the way for a final vote expected next week.

If approved, the moratorium would apply broadly to a range of facilities, including state and county detention centers, involuntary behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment facilities, and federal facilities, like those operated for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The proposal comes as some local officials and community groups raise concerns about the possibility of additional immigration detention centers opening in the region.

The Northwest ICE Processing Center, a privately run immigration detention facility within Tacoma city limits, already houses people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello said urgency around the proposal stems partly from federal plans to build a new 1,600-bed immigration detention center somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

“We already have one in Tacoma, in Pierce County,” Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello said. “It is highly impactful to first responders, our health department, the immigration system and the people detained there, there’s a lot of horrific situations there, so that is the urgency of the situation.”

The six-month pause, Executive Mello said, would give county officials time to gather public input and consider changes to local regulations governing detention facilities. He said the review would examine potential impacts on neighborhoods, first responders, the tax base and overall quality of life.

“We really need to put a pause and have a really thoughtful discussion in our community,” said Mello.

Community advocates who oppose immigration detention welcomed the proposal.

“We’ve been working over 12 years to shut down the Northwest Detention Center,” said Josefina Mora-Cheung of La Resistencia, a Tacoma-based group that campaigns to end the detention of immigrants. “The possibility of another detention center opening in the exact same county would not only affect our community and our state, but in addition would affect our work with people in detention.”

Several cities in the region, including Seattle and Tukwila, have recently passed similar moratoriums.

“Localities are taking notice,” Mora-Cheung said. “They’re seeing that communities really don’t want more detention centers.”

Even if Pierce County adopts the moratorium, federal authority could complicate efforts to block an immigration detention center. Under the federal supremacy clause of the Constitution, the federal government could likely still pursue construction of a facility in the county if it wanted to.

County officials say the moratorium could be extended beyond six months if more time is needed to review policy and community feedback.

A final vote by the full Pierce County Council is expected at its meeting next Tuesday.