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Residents press Winchester council to end ICE contract for juvenile detention
Summary
Multiple Winchester residents urged the City Council during public comment to end a contract that allows ICE to detain immigrant children at the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center, citing family separation, trauma and lack of oversight; council took no formal action at the meeting.
Dozens of Winchester residents used the council’s public comment period Dec. 9 to urge the city to end its contract and financial relationship that permits Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain immigrant children at the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Speakers described petitions, FOIA research and first-hand observations. Claire Strobakas said a petition with more than 500 online signatures was delivered to the council and called for immediate termination of the contract. Chelsea Dicus read a drafted resolution directing the city to terminate all contracts and intergovernmental agreements with ICE and to prohibit city employees from participating in ICE operations absent judicial warrants. “Therefore, be it resolved that the Winchester City Council directs the immediate termination of all contracts… between the city of Winchester… and ICE,” she read.
Other residents cited FOIA data and news reports. Jack Tinsley said Winchester processed more than $77,000 in ICE payments in one month and asserted that at least 11 minors were detained in Winchester between April and October 2025, including a 13‑year‑old brought more than 500 miles from his family. “This contract, with your help, is dead,” Tinsley told the council, urging use of the contract’s termination clause in February 2026 when the contract is up for renewal.
Speakers framed the issue as moral and practical: concerns included limited family access, long-distance transfers, the lack of local oversight, and the use of city resources for federal detention. No council vote or motion to terminate the contract was recorded at the meeting; the public comment period was advisory. President Sullivan reminded speakers that council listens but does not respond during public comments.
What happens next: Council members did not record a formal action on the ICE contract during this meeting; speakers requested council consideration before the contract renewal date noted in February 2026.
Provenance: public comments between SEG 526 and SEG 912, including Chelsea Dicus’ reading of a proposed resolution (topic introduced SEG 752; resolution text read SEG 757–813).
