For months, there have been rumors about plans to convert FCI Dublin — a low-security women's prison that shuttered in 2024 — into an ICE detention facility.
At a press conference on Tuesday, activists brought attention to a new Federal Bureau of Prisons environmental impact report. This report marks the first step in the process to repurpose the facility.
Susan Beaty, an attorney at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, said the report confirms what they already know. "The facility is unsafe, it's uninhabitable, and has serious infrastructural issues that would cost tens of millions of dollars to repair."
She added, " It's our position that demolishing the, the facility is the only way to mitigate the really serious environmental dangers that are present on the facility."
Aimee Chavira was formerly incarcerated at FCI Dublin. She said she was told to paint over mold, the water made them sick, their towels often had rust stains, and that “this prison is not livable for anyone.”
Beaty explained that this report would actually clear the path for the facility to be handed to the U.S. General Services Administration — or GSA — which transfers assets from one agency to another. The GSA could then transfer it to the Department of Homeland Security to repurpose it as an immigration detention facility.
Last month, Alameda County passed a unanimous resolution opposing the reopening of FCI Dublin as an ICE detention center. Advocates like Pastor Kelly Miller-Sanchez said FCI Dublin should be demolished and serve the community. She said, "This land could be used in much more productive ways, as a park, a library, a community recreation center, a hospital."
The Bureau of Prisons is required to receive public comment on the issue until June 1. Then, it will publish the feedback and share its decision. Beaty said what happens after that is unclear.
FCI Dublin is federally owned, but Beaty explained that their power is “not unlimited.” She said, " It's still served by local and state resources. Utilities, water, wastewater, emergency services, hospitals, roadways. And we've seen communities in other parts of the country resist ICE expansion by limiting access to those kinds of services and resources."
The Federal Bureau of Prisons told KALW over email that “FCI Dublin remains under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, and there are no plans to reopen it.” In addition, the Department of Homeland Security said over email that “ICE does not have plans to use the FCI Dublin for immigration detention.”
