News Sheet

ICE Comes to Weld County to Do Their Job

Written by Scott K. James

ICE is using a privately owned, properly permitted detention facility. The Denver Post is shocked. I’m not. Welcome to Weld County—we still believe in law and order.

In a piece from the Denver Post, aka Colorado’s own tabloid of tears, a reporter dives into the horror story that ICE (yes, the bad guys who actually enforce federal law) is daring to use a private immigration detention center in Hudson. Scandalous, right? Apparently not scandalous enough to require actual facts or basic civic understanding. The piece just can’t get over the fact that no other local governments were notified that ICE was here to do their job: detain dangerous folks who shouldn’t be on our streets.

The Bullet Point Brief

  • ICE is reopening an immigration detention center in Hudson, and the Denver Post treated it like Godzilla just rolled through town.
  • The facility is privately owned and operating within its existing permit, with no new risk, no shock, no problem.
  • Reporters rang up Weld County asking if we were told beforehand; spoiler: we weren’t, and we don’t need to be.
  • Some local pols and activist groups are fuming because apparently enforcing immigration law makes them sad.
  • At its core: ICE is detaining criminals and illegal immigrants, the thing they exist to do, and somehow that’s controversial?

My Bottom Line

Here’s a reality check from your favorite unfiltered commissioner with a front-row seat in common sense country: this isn’t breaking news, it’s government doing its job (rare as that is). If ICE wants to keep known threats off our streets by legally contracting with a private facility already permitted for this kind of work, guess what? I’m clapping. Loudly.

And let me make it simple for everyone at the Denver Post still trying to find corruption in common sense: Weld County doesn’t need to rubber-stamp every move made by another agency using a resource THAT HAS BEEN ALREADY APPROVED. That’s not how freedom works; it’s how bureaucracy gets bloated. Spoiler alert: Not everyone needs your permission slip signed.

Also, let’s go ahead and remember why this even matters – because there were real criminals crossing our border thanks to Biden’s Border Circus™ that couldn’t build a LEGO wall if you handed them instructions and glue sticks. ICE isn’t perfect, but when they get it right and protect us from some nasty folks slipping through the cracks? You won’t hear me crying about it into my soy latte.

So yes, welcome back to Weld County – the land where we enforce laws, honor permits, protect communities, and occasionally have the nerve to not grovel before big-city media narratives. If only every county remembered what the heck their job was…

About the author

Scott K. James

A 4th generation Northern Colorado native, Scott K. James is a veteran broadcaster, professional communicator, and principled leader. Widely recognized for his thoughtful, common-sense approach to addressing issues that affect families, businesses, and communities, Scott, his wife, Julie, and son, Jack, call Johnstown, Colorado, home. A former mayor of Johnstown, James is a staunch defender of the Constitution and the rule of law, the free market, and the power of the individual. Scott has delighted in a lifetime of public service and continues that service as a Weld County Commissioner representing District 2.