ICE Wants to Set Up Shop in Woodbury

Jan 10
5 min read

You may have heard that ICE is reportedly trying to build a detention center in Woodbury.

There are two important meetings next week. The Washington County Board meets on Tuesday, January 13, 9 a.m. at the County Government Center. The Woodbury City Council meets on Wednesday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall.

All voices in opposition are important. However, if you are a resident of Woodbury and Washington County, yours are especially important to these elected officials.

Proposed Woodbury ICE Detention Facility

There have been credible reports from multiple sources that ICE is looking to establish an ICE detention facility in Woodbury MN. The Washington Post reported Woodbury as one of 23 cities included in a draft solicitation seeking contractors to convert/operate existing warehouses into a nationwide network of ICE detention centers. Shortly prior to the Washington Post article, an anonymous poster on Reddit claiming to be in the real estate industry had posted that ICE is planning to buy 11435 Hudson Road in Woodbury. This building was completed in 2023 and has been sitting unleased.

Why we don’t want an ICE Detention Facility in Woodbury

There have been numerous reports of inhumane treatment of detainees, poor to non-existent living conditions, and even torture at these facilities.
- Amnesty International reported on abuses including shackling detainees in 2x2 ft cages exposed to sun and insects for hours at a time.
- Prism documented cases of holding detainees stripped to their underwear up to 18 days at a time in freezing-cold rooms under 24/7 bright lights.
- The Guardian reported on detainees hospitalized repeatedly while denied access to heart medications for days at a time, refused insulin (causing risk of amputation), and being denied cancer treatment while urinating blood for months.
In the 5 year period ending in 2021, 95% of deaths recorded in ICE detention facilities were deemed preventable. At least 30 detainees died in 2025, including 20 in the second-half of the year. (Prism report on detainee deaths, Reuters report on 2025 deaths)
ICE routinely denies detainees access to legal representation, including hiding detainee whereabouts from lawyers attempting to represent them and preventing detainees from contacting attorneys. (ACLU report on ICE blocking detainees from contacting lawyers, TAP article on ICE hiding detainees from their lawyers)

We do not want these abuses to occur in Woodbury!

What Can Local Government Do?

The federal government has typically coordinated federal projects with local planning agencies to be in accordance with local zoning and land use practices. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes the federal government claims that it is exempt from local zoning.
Several communities have been faced with what Woodbury is now facing and have fought back.
- Newport, Oregon is suing ICE over a planned detention facility.
- Leavenworth, Kansas sued for-profit prison operator CoreCivic for attempting to reopen without necessary permits and prevailed in Federal court.
- Portland, Oregon took action to evict an existing ICE facility in September over violations of the conditional-use permit it was operating under. In December the City Council passed additional zoning restrictions targeting private owners of leased detention facilities last month.
- Florida-Run ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ was ordered shut-down in an injunction following a lawsuit over tribal and environmental concerns.
Based on the experiences in other cities, it’s reasonable to expect that ICE will attempt to ignore local regulations. Woodbury should prepare for this by researching zoning, land use requirements, and permitting for a detention facility -- and commit to enforcing them, including in court if necessary. The city needs to be prepared to fight a proposed ICE facility.

Here's Our Ask

We are not certain that ICE is moving ahead with this plan, and local government officials have not yet been contacted. However, we believe that we need to make a strong statement to local government now! ICE has shown that it does not respect the civil rights of individuals and that its arrest and detention policies are inhumane. If we do not speak up, we are complicit in ICE activities.

Attend the Washington County Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 13, 9 a.m. at the Washington County Government Center, 14949 62nd St N, Stillwater, MN 55082.

Email the County Commissioners with your concerns.

Attend the Woodbury City Council Meeting on Wednesday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. at the Woodbury City Hall, 8301 Valley Creek Rd, Woodbury, MN 55125.

Email the Woodbury mayor and city council members with your concerns.

Ask your friends and neighbors to attend these meetings and contact these elected officials. Let's speak in a loud voice!

While we encourage you to personalize your comments, we suggest you include these specific points to make your views clear:

State your full name and your city or county of residence
I am against any detention facility run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) being located in Woodbury for the following reasons:
- ICE detention facilities throughout the country have substantial reported instances of physical and sexual abuse and other inhumane treatment including torture.
- Those sent to detention in Minnesota are increasingly charged and sentenced in courts where the public is not allowed. Immigration hearings are being held in secret and consequently detainees may not be there for valid reasons.
- ICE claims that it is only detaining criminals and the “worst of the worst.” However, only about 5% of detainees have been convicted of violent crimes. Did you know that less than 30% of ICE detainees in 2025 have criminal records?
By allowing an ICE detention facility to be located here, Woodbury/Washington County will be complicit in these abuses and will sanction ongoing violations of civil and humanitarian rights to occur in our back yard.
I recommend that the city/county begin right now to determine what type of zoning requirements and/or other city/county permissions would be required for a facility like this to be built or leased in Woodbury -- and commit to enforcing them.
I recommend that the city/county commit to holding a public hearing prior to giving any permissions or approvals for a ICE detention facility to be built or leased.