Thread: New Illegal "Processing" Center

The Rapid City Planning Commission will consider today a conditional use permit request for construction of a new 28,900-square-foot Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the northwest part of town. The facility would be built on 4.1 acres at the corner of Fountain Plaza Drive and Sophia Court in a light industrial zoning district south of Interstate 90 and east of Deadwood Avenue.
When I first heard about this my jaw about hit the floor. I had questions I wanted to ask the Commission, BUT it only appeared in the paper the Day of the Meeting! Tell me this please...
Why Process these Illegals way up here in South Dakota? I know it will be Mexicans and NOT Canadiens going through here. Right now the County Sherrifs take care of ALL holds on Illegals, and it seems to work just fine.
Second, do you think that is a pretty big building just to "Process" Illegals?
I think something else is going on... I DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE!

Illegal-alien processing center part of bigger ICE presence in Rapid City


The Immigration and Customs Enforcement wing of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will have a more prominent presence in Rapid City if city officials authorize construction of a new building to process illegal aliens.

The Rapid City Planning Commission will consider today a conditional use permit request for construction of a new 28,900-square-foot Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the northwest part of town. The facility would be built on 4.1 acres at the corner of Fountain Plaza Drive and Sophia Court in a light industrial zoning district south of Interstate 90 and east of Deadwood Avenue.

The Planning Commission will meet at 7 a.m. today at the city council meeting room, 300 Sixth St.

SBC Archway VII LLC of Greenwood Village, Colo., owner of the land, is applying for the conditional use permit. The company would then lease the facility to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as ICE.

The building is referred to as "a community corrections facility" in a request for the permit. But it would not house detainees overnight under its current operational plan. Detainees would be processed at the facility and sent to detention centers outside South Dakota, according to documents submitted to the planning commission by SBC Archway.

Also, the plan calls for detainees to be driven into and out of the building through a secure doorway.

"There should be no detainees even visible from the exterior of the building," city planning manager Vicki Fisher said Wednesday.

The growth management staff is recommending that the commission grant the permit, with a variety of stipulations. They include requirements on landscaping, lighting and safety and environmental issues and a requirement that the proposed operational plan -- which does not include over night detainment of aliens -- be followed.

If ICE wanted to change the operation's plan in any significant way, it would have to come back to the planning commission and go through public notice and comment of such changes, Fisher said.

That fact that the operation plan does not include housing detainees helped diffuse the concerns of some nearby landowners, Fisher said. So did the attractive design of the building and grounds, she said.

"We've had several locals come in and pull the file, and they've been pleasantly surprised at how nice the place will look," Fisher said. "And I think it was reassuring when they realized how the facility would function. It's going to be a nice building."

The building would have offices, support space, a processing center and indoor parking for 23 vehicles. Employees would park inside. There would be an outdoor parking lot for visitors.

Officials familiar with the plan at the ICE offices in Minneapolis were unavailable Wednesday for comment, a spokesman there said. U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson of Sioux Falls said he didn't know the details of the planned center and wouldn't speculate on whether it means more ICE activity in western South Dakota.

But ICE is important to public safety in the state, he said.

"ICE has a broad mission here in South Dakota, and they've been very valuable to the U.S. attorney's office in areas that include not only illegal immigration but also child pornography, drug cases, child exploitation cases," Johnson said. "They have a broad mission here, with some great successes."

ICE was highly visible at the Sturgis rally last year. It brought a mobile, state-of-the-art operations center as well as Black Hawk helicopters.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley of Pierre, a former South Dakota U.S. attorney, said that ICE technology last year was useful to all law enforcement efforts at the rally. Jackley said that while he was U.S. attorney, he sought a bigger ICE presence in the community.

In particular, Jackley wanted a full-time ICE criminal investigator or investigators in Rapid City, to look for crimes beyond illegal immigration and use of illegal aliens by employers

"It became very apparent to me that it would benefit South Dakota to have at least one investigative enforcement agent in Rapid City, mainly tied to the rally, child porno, work-site enforcement and criminal activity and drug-task for work," Jackley said. "At the time, they had agents coming from Sioux Falls or Colorado. And that didn't make sense."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com

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Posted in News, Local on Thursday, May 26, 2011 8:00 am

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