The Hanover County property that federal immigration officials wanted to buy and convert into an immigrant processing and detention center is no longer for sale, according to a statement released by the Canadian-based developer that owns it.
Residents from across Greater Richmond rallied against the proposed sale of the 43-acre property at a board of supervisors meeting Wednesday night, after the US Department of Homeland Security — which oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — notified county officials of their intent to purchase the property “in support of ICE operations.”
“The transaction to sell our industrial building in Ashland, Virginia will not be proceeding,” Jim Pattison Developments, the property’s owner, said in a statement on its website Friday. VPM News contacted a property manager with the company, who confirmed that the sale would not be taking place.
Updated at 10:59 p.m.: Hanover County’s Board of Supervisors voiced their opposition to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement interest in establishing a potential processing facility outside the Ashland area.
County officials were notified last week in a direct communication from the US Department of Homeland Security, which expressed an intent to purchase a 43-acre property at 11525 Lakeridge Pkwy. “in support of ICE operations.”
Hanover still has weeks to formally respond, though Board Chair Sean Davis stated the county’s position on the matter clearly while opening Wednesday’s regular meeting.
“Simply put, a DHS facility at this property on Lakeridge Parkway is not consistent with the established land use for the business, residential and commerce area,” the Henry District supervisor said. “The board opposes the purchase of this property by DHS because of these well-planned, current land uses.”
Although the county isn’t supportive of the location, the locality’s ability to deter the purchase between the federal government and Canada-based developer Jim Pattison Developments is extremely limited.
The US government is generally exempt from local zoning regulations, but Hanover officials are taking the following actions in response to ICE’s stated interest:
- Staff and county attorneys will draft a detailed summary to DHS outlining the county’s land use policies and other identified land-use concerns.
- Local officials plan to speak with state and congressional representatives so DHS may find “a more suitable location.”
- The county will evaluate its legal options.
Before opening the first half of the public comment period to county residents only — due to an outsized number of signups in the standing-room-only chamber — Davis emphasized that Hanover County was not involved in the federal government’s site selection or decision making regarding the Lakeridge Parkway property, nor were officials notified prior to the Jan. 21 letter.
Amid icy weather and hazardous conditions, more than 1,000 area residents gathered outside to protest the facility.
And despite the board’s stated opposition and dozens of vocal speakers who were also against the transaction, a small number of residents commented in favor of increasing ICE’s presence in the community — and urged supervisors to reconsider.
Tina Steinberg of the Ashland District voiced her support for DHS occupying a part of the county during the restricted 2-minute limit for commenters.
“ICE is protecting the rule of law,” Steinberg told supervisors. “Please stand in unity with ICE to protect this country and keep its people safe from violent criminals. It’s hard not to feel that the left and its protesters are not trying to destroy this country from within.”
Steinberg and several other speakers said they support the federal government’s intended goal of removing illegal immigrants and criminal offenders from the United States.
Stated concerns from the pro-facility speakers focused on the potential burden a 1,500-bed facility could bring to local law enforcement and county tax revenue.
Meanwhile, commenters opposing the purchase near-universally shared concerns about federal immigration enforcement’s recent record of disobeying the rule of law and general lack of standardized training accountability, pointing specifically to increasing volatility in other US cities like Minneapolis.
They also voiced concern over the county’s lack of input in the federal government’s decision to settle in Hanover, particularly given the site’s proximity to businesses like Green Top Sporting Goods and Bass Pro Shop.
Outside, despite widespread hazardous road conditions and icy weather from the recent winter storm, more than a thousand residents from across Greater Richmond made their opposition clear during a planned demonstration in front of the county administration building at County Complex Road.
Organizers from a local chapter of 50501 Virginia, Indivisible and the Hanover Rapid Response Network brought together community leaders and members who stand opposed to ICE’s presence in the region.
Janet Eddy, an organizer with the Central Virginia Indivisible chapter, has organized protests outside ICE facilities across the state. (The federal agency operates short- and long-term detention in partnership with select local corrections facilities regionally, as well as in Farmville.)
She told VPM News she’s witnessed how ICE’s aggressive tactics in cities like Minneapolis have sown distrust between federal law enforcement and the local communities they intend to serve.
Eddy, a health care worker who’s worked hand-in-hand with Greater Richmond’s immigrant community, added that she strongly opposed a detention center in Hanover and the potential harm it could cause to her community and neighbors: “The immigrants in our communities are a really big part of our community. I know that these people are good people. These are people who we should be leading, not arresting.”
During her time with Health Brigade (formally the Fan Free Clinic) and the Daily Planet, Eddy learned and empathized with the struggle of documented and undocumented patients who immigrated to this country to flourish.
As a 30-year resident of Hanover, she’s also learned to make her voice heard.
“We have a really strong large group of Hanover County residents who are going to fight this,” Eddy said ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
Eddy was one of several speakers who voiced their opposition to ICE’s activities within the county, state and nation. She was joined by neighbors like the Rev. Ellie Leech, a pastor at Ashland Christian Church — as well as 50501’s Antoni Szachowicz. who lauded the community’s effort at Wednesday’s demonstration.
“We need to continue showing our resistance. We need to continue showing up,” Szachowicz told the crowd outside. “If they are going to continue doing what they’re doing now — I want to make sure that we continue fighting.”
Szachowicz said ICE presence threatens to disrupt communities across the region. That sentiment is especially true for local attorney Michael Berdan, whose home is one mile away from the Lakeridge Parkway site.
Berdan told VPM News that he’s closely followed the developments with immigration enforcement. As a bilingual attorney who regularly works with immigrants and a former elementary school teacher, Berdan said he’s grown concerned over the human rights abuses he sees in immigration enforcement and its potential path to Hanover County.
“It’s really disheartening,” Berdan said.”I’d like to see that space used for something that’s productive for the county, that doesn’t put our county in further negative light and doesn’t further this abusive operation of this administration.”
Berdan said ‘he’s thankful for my neighbors’ reaction toward this development and hope that it can be stopped — or at least impeded.
“I have neighbors of all political persuasions that are opposed to this for a variety of reasons, and I’m thankful for our neighbors and surrounding counties and in Richmond that are lending their voice to this,” Berdan said. “The harm this may cause doesn’t stop at the county line, it will influence all of Central Virginia and so much of Virginia.”
