Stein opposes ICE detention facility in Hertford County

HERTFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - Governor Josh Stein is voicing his concerns following reports that a closed federal prison in Hertford County is set to become an ICE detention center.

The New York Times cited internal documents that show ICE plans to turn the Rivers Correctional Institution into a 1,400-bed immigration detention center, one of the largest ICE detention centers on the East Coast.

Governor Stein is showing his opposition in a statement saying the planned detention center is not state-owned and he doesn’t approve of the move.

“Everyone who commits a crime should be held accountable, and violent criminals who are here illegally should be deported, Stein said. ”However, ICE has a proven track record of arresting, detaining, and abusing American citizens, and the overwhelming majority of people ICE has detained have no criminal record. Meanwhile, last year dozens of people died while in ICE custody. The planned ICE detention center in Winton is not state-owned, and I did not approve this transaction. Like many other North Carolinians, I do not want it in our state. ICE and Border Patrol have not earned our trust.”

Rivers, which is in Hertford County, was built as a privately-run federal prison. The prison is owned by GEO Group, and it shut down in 2022 after the Biden administration phased out privately operated prisons.

There are currently no federal immigration detention centers in North Carolina, and the Times says the plan is for Rivers to reopen this fall.

In March, some 50 people protested in Ahoskie about the possibility of GEO Group reopening the facility as an immigration detention center.