Lawsuit disputes Hudson’s claim it can’t stop ICE facility

HUDSON — A neighbor and a nonprofit group of faith leaders are suing the town of Hudson to stop the Trump administration from opening an immigration detention center there.

Janet Carlson, whose property borders the site of the 3001 N. Juniper St. detention center, joined Denver-based immigrant-rights group Together Colorado late Wednesday in suing the town, its Town Council, its planning commission and planning director Jennifer Woods in Weld District Court. The plaintiffs argue that the property isn’t zoned for a detention center, and that town officials ignored their own land-use codes by allowing Florida-based private-prison company GEO Group to open the facility without a special permit.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month signed a $529 million, five-year lease agreement with Geo Group Inc. (NYSE: GEO) to open the new immigrant detention center in the former Big Horn Correctional Facility in Hudson. ICE last year identified the defunct facility as the possible home of a new detention center, which sparked heated opposition at Hudson Town Council meetings and a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in September 2025 by the ACLU of Colorado.

In a community update published July 13, town officials said they had no power to stop the facility’s use as a detention center. “The Town does not have approval authority over federal immigration detention operations at this private facility,” the update said. But in their lawsuit, the plaintiffs asked Weld District Court to rule on whether Hudson has a right and duty to oppose the plans.

“ICE and GEO do not get to bully the Town of Hudson, the State of Colorado, or their residents into abandoning the rule of law,” the plaintiffs say.

Although Geo has not said when the facility would open, its 88-month lease begins Aug. 1.

According to the complaint, the facility previously was used as a private prison under contract with the state of Alaska under a conditional use permit issued in 2008 and approved by Hudson voters. The facility closed in 2013 and has been vacant ever since. According to the lawsuit, the permit specified that any proposed change to the facility’s specified use was required to be resubmitted to the Hudson town government for approval.

The facility is owned by a subsidiary private real estate trust Highlands REIT “and would be operated by a private, for-profit contractor,” the plaintiffs say, “and federal law does not pre-empt the application of Hudson’s generally applicable zoning and land-use requirements to private parties. Local governments in Colorado must listen and answer to their residents. Plaintiffs bring this action to establish that Hudson must follow and enforce its own Code.”

According to the complaint, GEO has agreed to rent the facility from the Highlands subsidiary for $250,000 a month beginning Aug. 1, and that rent would increase to nearly $1 million a month “in six months or as soon as the Facility is occupied, whichever occurs first. GEO has stated that the ‘Big Horn Facility’ will generate approximately $85 million in annual revenue in its first full year of operations.”

The case in Weld District Court is Together Colorado and Janet E. Carlson v. Town of Hudson, Town of Hudson Town Council, Town of Hudson Planning Commission, and Jennifer Woods, in her official capacity as the Town of Hudson Planning Director. Case No. 2026-cv-30875.

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