Hanover protest turns back ICE detention plans
- Statement from the CCPJ Board
- 1d
- 2 min read
Following is an update on developments in Hanover County, where ICE was planning to turn a local warehouse into a Processing Center. A member of the CCPJ board attended a large protest on Wednesday, January 28, where the county Board of Supervisors was considering whether or not to approve the sale of the warehouse from a private owner to ICE. Here is his firsthand report:
“Last week it was announced that the Department of Homeland Security had purchased a large warehouse in Hanover County with the intent of converting it to an ICE Processing Center. There was to be a proposal to the Board of Supervisors for approval of the construction plans held during the Board Meeting on the evening of January 28.
“I went to the protest last night with my son-in-law. I was amazed at the large crowd there (estimated at close to a thousand people) in this deeply red and Trump-voting area. The auditorium was already at capacity when we arrived about 30 minutes before the scheduled meeting start time. We, and the rest of the crowd, stayed outside for about an hour. There were speakers; there was chanting of familiar protest call-and-response slogans; and there were numerous signs both clever and profane.
“An hour later a representative came out to announce that the Board had rejected the proposal. According to the representative, DHS could now sue to overturn the decision or appeal to Governor Spanberger to override the Board.
“Keep in mind that the Board is unanimously Republican. My admittedly optimistic take is that this may signal some turning away from DHS/ICE by fair-minded conservatives, or at least a demonstration of the power of the people when letting their will be known. After the horrible events of January, take it as a brief glimmer of hope.”
Other CCPJ actives responded with the following comments:
“That's great! The county specifically said, after turning down the application, that they didn't object to data centers, that they just thought this location was not right for one, and that they would look around for a better site for one. So the battle was won but the war goes on.”
And: “The larger victory was that this crowd of various political persuasions came together and refused to roll over for an unacceptable federal government incursion into their community. The board by necessity had to keep within the bounds of its authority, but the county residents voiced a great big NO!”
Finally, this news came in on Sunday morning: “The company that was to sell the property in Hanover to ICE has just just announced that they are canceling the sale. A small but encouraging victory.”
It should be noted that “a handful” of ICE supporters showed up to argue in favor of ICE’s plans and their mission in general. More details can be found in this Virginia Mercury article: https://virginiamercury.com/2026/01/29/not-the-right-location-hanover-supervisors-residents-oppose-dhs-ice-facility/
And more details plus opinion can be found in the following Virginia Business piece:
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