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Residents urge Bradford County to reject or pause Douglas Building lease for proposed ICE detention center; commission agrees to explore alternatives
Summary
Dozens of residents urged Bradford County commissioners to halt plans for an ICE detention center at the Douglas Building, citing groundwater contamination, wastewater and infrastructure strain, fiscal risk and moral objections. Commissioners voted to explore lease and marketing alternatives rather than commit to a sheriff-led detention lease.
Dozens of residents used a public-comment period at the April 6 Bradford County commission meeting to urge commissioners not to move forward with proposals to convert the Douglas Building into a temporary ICE detention center.
"This detention center will be a humanitarian disaster, an environmental disaster, and an economic disaster," said Sage Sierra, a Gainesville resident, during the public-comment period. Speakers repeatedly raised contamination concerns tied to trichloroethylene and other volatile organic compounds reportedly present at the site, asked the commission to wait for FDEP testing, and warned of sewer, water and power shortfalls if a large detention population were hosted locally.
Longtime county resident…
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