Council Legislation

Proposed Ordinance No. O2026-505

Title: An Ordinance of the Pierce County Council Adopting a Development Moratorium Pursuant to Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.70A.390; Prohibiting the Siting, Expansion, or Establishment of Certain Detention Centers and Facilities Involving Involuntary Confinement; and Adopting Findings of Fact.

Effective: April 4, 2026

Status: Passed

Sponsors: Councilmembers Robyn Denson, Rosie Ayala, Jani Hitchen, Bryan Yambe

Final votes

March 24, 2026
Nay Aye Nay Aye Aye Aye Aye


Documents
Additional legislative records are available below Collapse All  Expand All
 

Public Comments

Name Date Comment
Karin Hardison 3/9/26 4:25 PM Thank you for reviewing our Pierce County development regulations and establish clearer standards for siting facilities that involve involuntary confinement, evaluation, treatment, or custody.
Rebecca Schoenfeldt 3/13/26 8:12 AM We must enact these proactive measures to prevent the expansion of immigration detention capacity in Pierce County and to protect the well-being of local communities.
Linda Kachinsky 3/13/26 8:24 AM We must stand up against this inhumane incarceration of our neighbors. NO MORE DETENTION CAMPS IN PIERCE COUNTY!
Alyssa R. 3/13/26 8:43 AM Thank you to the sponsoring councilmembers. Our community does not want to expand the detection centers.
Lynae Kibiger 3/13/26 8:46 AM I support the proposed legislation. The Tacoma detention center is already a stain on our community. For the safety of Americans, POC, and our neighbors we need to loudly say no to increased illegal, barbaric, and unsafe detention.
Ashley Mearns 3/13/26 8:54 AM Don't embroil Pierce Co in the liability of the second Nuremberg trials. ICE is a contemporary US gestapo invading our community with masks and military level firearms to kidnap our neighbors, friends, and family any act to shelter or aid these monster is going to bit the county in the ass in coming years. If the evil doesn't repulsed collusion consider the inevitable lawsuits and backlash to supporting it. The moratorium must pass.
Jayne Sanderson 3/13/26 8:59 AM Please stop any new concentration camps. This is a sad time in our nation and Pierce County can take a stand to not be a participant in this madness.
Lori Diamond 3/13/26 9:46 AM I support this legislation. No more detention centers in Pierce County!
Stephanie L Mayes 3/13/26 10:24 AM No detention centers in Puyallup. Thank you!
Gabriel 3/13/26 10:55 AM Anyone with a moral code could not support this.
Carol Colin 3/13/26 12:44 PM I support this proposed ordinance putting a moratorium on certain new or expanded detention facilities in Pierce County. My primary focus is the controversial, privately owned Tacoma ICE Processing Center. The moral choice is to prevent any more of these despicable private prisons from being sited locally.
Angela Meyerhoff 3/13/26 1:13 PM I absolutely support a moratorium on any new or expanded detention centers in Pierce County. Keep our County safe for immigrant communities.
Lisa LeClaire 3/14/26 7:15 AM I support this legislation and hope other counties are pursuing the same protections for the most vulnerable among us. The American Dream is based upon the ability to start a new and better life in this country. We must support this legislation and find more humane ways to address the immigration problem.
Linda Stuckey 3/14/26 7:49 AM I don't want my community to be complicit in the illegal activities of ICE.
Laurie 3/14/26 9:10 AM I am completely against adding cruel and inhuman Detention centers to Pierce county. Thank you
Adrienne Ramm-Granberg 3/14/26 10:14 AM I strongly support this moratorium and hope it serves as a step toward ending all refugee and immigrant detention in Pierce County.
Abbie G 3/14/26 10:18 AM I fully support this moratorium, and urge Pierce County to continue removing avenues for new, expanded, or even existing detention facilities and operations to continue impacting our communities. The people want no part of this
Alice Garofalo 3/14/26 10:20 AM Please do not allow interment facilities in Pierce County! These are stains on any city that allows them, as human rights violations occur in these because of little oversight being allowed. We’re better than that, aren’t we?
Giovanni 3/14/26 10:33 AM No more glorified concentration camps
Stephanie Skaggs 3/14/26 10:34 AM ICE out. This internment facility is a huge moral stain on our community. We have to stand up against this deep injustice.
Cristina M 3/14/26 10:52 AM I support the proposal for a moratorium on any activity that would allow more detention centers in the community. The building of detention centers is antithetical to the health and well-being of *all* community members and the economic vitality of the community. People do not spend their money or choose to live in places where they do not feel safe or welcome.
Lauren Moores 3/14/26 11:05 AM No detention facilities, people being held in the existing Tacoma facility are already experiencing human rights abuses.
Lyddie Austin 3/14/26 11:25 AM We must protect the constitutional and human rights of all residents of Pierce county and the country.
Shelby Jawer 3/14/26 11:32 AM Pierce County should not be spending any money or resources on detaining community members, regardless of immigration status. No more ICE detention centers!
Michael Whalen 3/14/26 12:01 PM As a constituent of district 4 I support this ordinance. Please pass this ordinance. This is a common sense ordinance and falls in line with what we should value as a community.
Ava Clarridge 3/14/26 12:04 PM We should have learned from the holocaust.
Karen Ehnat 3/14/26 12:07 PM Do not allow any more detention centers in Pierce County!!
Hannah Wardman 3/14/26 12:18 PM No more detention centers!
Tamiko Nimura 3/14/26 12:20 PM No more ICE detention centers in our city!!!
Robin Hamman 3/14/26 12:21 PM I support a moratorium on detention facilities in Pierce County. We have a responsibility to make sure for profit companies are not profiting from human rights abuse and misery in our community. There appears to be no or limited oversight and no guarantee that our laws and fundamental human rights are being followed.
Laurel Hightower 3/14/26 12:24 PM I support this legislation, we already have an embarrassing amount of incarceration facilities in Pierce county. I believe that the city is capable of coming up with more humane solutions.
S Hulbert 3/14/26 12:29 PM As a Pierce county voter, I oppose detention of migrant persons. I support a moratorium on detention centers and demand the abolition of ICE. Thank you.
Evan Wood 3/14/26 12:30 PM We must protect every person in our county from these facilities and the unjust federal government.
Jennifer Maxwell 3/14/26 12:39 PM History is watching. I support stopping the spread of fear-based violence wherever we possibly can.
Erica Pierce 3/14/26 12:45 PM NO MORE DETENTION CENTERS IN PIERCE COUNTY!! More oversight over any currently here.
Rachel L Kunze 3/14/26 12:50 PM End for-profit detention in our region! Force oversight or close NWDC! No new detention centers in Pierce County! Not. In. Anyone's Backyard.
Cassandra Schwartz 3/14/26 12:52 PM Fully support this moratorium on detention facilities. Especially those for ICE.
Jaren C. 3/14/26 1:18 PM America's for-profit prison system is already an abomination. Now it's being weaponized against immigrants for political grandstanding and corporate profits. These concentration camps are a blight on humanity and our nation, and they have no place in our county or state. I support this ordinance.
Laura Whitehill 3/14/26 1:18 PM We must stand up against this inhumane incarceration of our neighbors. NO MORE DETENTION CAMPS IN PIERCE COUNTY!
Danielle Harrington 3/14/26 1:35 PM I support proposal No. O2026-505 whole heart Eddy. I do not believe detention centers and facilities are aligned with our community values or that they make us any safer. They instill fear and many of the existing detention centers have egregious human rights violations.
Debra Pardee 3/14/26 1:35 PM I am absolutely opposed! These are concentration camps that violate human rights as defined by the Inited Nations.
Lindsay Smolko 3/14/26 1:41 PM Wholeheartedly agree with you being proactive in this way to prevent atrocities of the concentration camp variety. Please fight like hell to stand on the right side of history. We need you now, and future generations are counting on you to make them proud to read about their community’s history.
Saiyare 3/14/26 1:51 PM I support a moratorium on immigrant detention in Pierce County *indefinitely*
Pam Beal 3/14/26 2:08 PM I support this moratorium.
Robert Matthews 3/14/26 2:26 PM I support passage of the Proposed Ordinance No. 02026-505. Immigrants helped build this country and the actions of ICE are, in my opinion, contemptible.
Tricia McIntosh 3/14/26 2:38 PM No more detention centers.
Mary Gleysteen 3/14/26 2:48 PM I support moratorium on construction of detention facilities and the funding thereof
Joy LaMountain 3/14/26 3:04 PM I urge you to support this ordinance. As a Washington resident born and raised in Tacoma it is very important to me that this facility follow the requested changes in this ordinance. Safety comes at an absolute precident, ethical care is paramount. We need more regulations on these operations and we need congressional oversight.
Elizabeth Schroeder 3/14/26 3:16 PM I am for any action that halts the building of detention centers as we have now, especially when they are used to punish people who have not committed a felony. Any future detention centers need to have humane treatment and rehabilitation as top priority.
Jessica Doherty 3/14/26 3:30 PM I am against expanding current or building new detention centers in Pierce county
Ashe P 3/14/26 3:31 PM I support this moratorium. I do not support building more detention centers and giving more money and time to the act of detaining people and separating families.
Megan Phillips 3/14/26 3:36 PM Pierce County should invest its money in supporting people in the community not in detaining them. No more detention centers in Pierce County!
Cathy Tashiro 3/14/26 3:53 PM I wholeheartedly support this legislation.
Rev. Anna Lynn 3/14/26 4:21 PM I have witnessed the privately owned NW Detention Center become a facility that cannot care for those it detainees in a humanitarian way. The detainees do not receive basic medical care or nutritious food. The detainees are also retaliated against by GEO staff when complaints are made. We cannot allow expansion of this facility or another facility to be built that further oppresses our immigrant neighbors, friends and family. Stop the build of any further of these detention facilities, as they do not treat people with care, dignity or respect - they only want the full bed, to reap the financial gain. Shame.
Jacqueline Rodman 3/14/26 4:44 PM I support the proposed moratorium on ICE detention centers. The building of detention centers is antithetical to the health and well-being of our community members and the economic vitality of our area. We must protect the constitutional and human rights of ALL residents of Pierce County and our country.
Ryan Davis 3/14/26 4:56 PM I strongly support this proposal and think Tacoma should not be associated with future detention centers.
Patrick Stickney 3/14/26 4:58 PM I grateful for the sponsoring councilmembers of this proposal for bringing this ordinance forward, and urge the adoption by the entire Council. This is a commonsense ordinance to address the issue of an out-of-control federal government.
Patti G Nelsen 3/14/26 4:58 PM I whole heartedly support this proposal for a moratorium on developing any detention centers in Pierce County. This "deportation" process is illegal and unconstitutional. We must not support these efforts in absolutely any way.
Eli Drake 3/14/26 5:01 PM I support prohibiting detention centers in pierce county
Tanja Ownbey 3/14/26 5:05 PM I support this proposal. We need to stop warehousing human beings.
MJ Ferguson 3/14/26 5:31 PM The NWDC has a documented history of inhumane care of those housed there. Overcrowding, poor nutrition, lack of medical care, $1 a day wages, solitary confinement, insufficient translation and legal representation services have been happening there for years. Allowing more GEO facilities in our area operating in a similar fashion can't be allowed. GEO's profit margin is their bottom line at the expense of detainee health and well being.
Charlotte Riggle 3/14/26 5:41 PM I support a moratorium or ban on the siting, expansion, or establishment of detention centers and facilities of involuntary confinement in Pierce County.
Alex Aversa 3/14/26 6:45 PM I support this proposal, to protect our neighbors we must put a ban on detention centers in pierce county
Zan Lussier 3/14/26 6:59 PM I support a moratorium on detention centers and facilities of involuntary containment in Pierce county.
Gabrielle Vaz 3/14/26 7:08 PM These detention centers are completely unregulated and unsafe environments that break many international human rights laws and laws here as well. I highly encourage the council to make even more robust legislation that limit the power of these federal agents from breaking the rights of Washington residents. No one is illegal on stolen land and very very few people are truly undocumented. Overstay of visa is a civil offense and not a criminal and we should not allow this administration to treat it as such.
Mizu Sugimura 3/14/26 7:15 PM Very much in favor of the County Council adopting this development moratorium, as a descendant of 2 generations of Japanese Americans imprisoned without due process by the US government during WW2 for up to 3 years. It was traumatic for these family members as the decades go by, to try and start afresh amidst the little known background of their unlawful imprisonment. Some of this trauma has come down the family to descendants as part of generational trauma, a phenomenon not yet identified, appreciated or understood. It is most disturbing since inception of the NW Ice Center to be living within miles of a detention center, where incarcees are not only going through the same forced imprisonment and disregard for their rights as human beings, as my parent's and grandparent's generation.
Simone Bingham 3/14/26 7:21 PM We must support this proposal. We are considered to be the "bluest state" and yet we have ice detention centers.
Casandra Harrison 3/14/26 7:25 PM Strongly support this!
Laura Krughoff 3/14/26 7:26 PM I strongly support this needed legislation to protect all Pierce County residents from the moral harm detention centers do us.
Caleb Zilmer 3/14/26 7:27 PM I support this moratorium, in particular for detention of immigrants. They are members of our communities whose cultural and linguistic diversity adds value to all of our lives.
Giovanna Urdangarain 3/14/26 7:49 PM I strongly support this proposal. Tacoma should not be complicit with organizations that violate human dignity and profit from vulnerable individuals.
Eileen Gormly 3/14/26 7:53 PM No (more) for-profit prisons or 'detention' centers or work camps or concentration camps in Pierce County!
Sara Kiesler 3/14/26 8:20 PM Thank you Council for this proposal. I strongly support the legislation. The privately owned detention centers have too little accountability to the public. We do not need more attrocities against our neighbors. History will look kindly on you for this action.
Shira Reisman 3/14/26 8:44 PM Thank you.
Anita Latch 3/14/26 8:55 PM Having the GEO prison in the tide flats is really bad enough. I appreciate this ordinance and your support of it so we don't allow any more private prison in Pierce County. This tells ICE that their entire approach is unwelcome here and not the way the USA wants to go forward.
Susannah 3/14/26 9:03 PM No Detention centers in Pierce County. People are held in private, for profit gulags for months without charges or legal counsel.Let us not participate in these horrors.
Kelly 3/14/26 9:22 PM Please make this permanent, too! No more buildings when they can’t even get their act together at one. We don’t support the inhumane treatment of immigrants or any other humans. ICE and For profit prisons especially, need to get out of our city, out of our county, out of our state, out of our nation.
Alexis 3/14/26 9:27 PM We don’t need large incarceration and detention infrastructure in Tacoma. I support this legislation.
Beth Dillard 3/14/26 9:35 PM I am writing especially related to immigrant detention. immigrants are valuable members of our community and should not be caught up in the current political need to scapegoat.
Emilie Buter 3/14/26 9:44 PM I support this proposal. No more detention centers.
Candelaria Ochoa 3/14/26 9:48 PM I support the proposal for a moratorium on any activity that would allow more detention centers in the community. The building of detention centers is antithetical to the health and well-being of *all* community members and the economic vitality of the community. People do not spend their money or choose to live in places where they do not feel safe or welcome.
ellis 3/14/26 10:18 PM No detention centers! No working with ICE. They are attacking everyone, regrdless of status.
Peter Lombardi 3/14/26 11:31 PM I fully support this proposal.
Sara Nau 3/14/26 11:55 PM I support this proposal. No detention camps. Period.
Rebecca H 3/15/26 12:58 AM I support this proposal. We don't want expanded or additional detention facilities in Pierce County.
Monica U 3/15/26 3:24 AM I support the prohibiting of detention centers in Pierce County.
Jessica Barilec 3/15/26 4:58 AM Support
Kaylee Baker 3/15/26 5:55 AM Please listen to the constituents when we say we do not want expansion of immigration detention centers! No more.
The Rev’d Maria McDowell 3/15/26 7:09 AM The measure of a people lies in how we care for all creation, and all people. Involuntary detention helps no one, and is a stain on our character. Not only should we not be complicit in unjust violence to friends or strangers, we should seek ways to care and support them. The least we can do is agree to no longer allow such profoundly unjust institutions to use our land and resources.
Marteena Jones 3/15/26 7:23 AM I support this moratorium and would support a closer examination of Tacoma’s role in the inhumane detention of people at the current GEO operated detention center. Lives have been lost, people have been abused and families have been harmed. Federal immigration ‘policy’ Is out of control and Tacoma can say NO! to being part of it.
Jennie Russell 3/15/26 7:45 AM ICE out! Stop detention of immigrants in our community. These conditions are inhumane and we should not be building more of these centers in Pierce County or anywhere else.
Alma Villegas 3/15/26 8:03 AM I support the adoption of this moratorium. Now, move to shutdown NWIPC!
Carly Johnson 3/15/26 8:07 AM I support this proposal.
Hellen 3/15/26 8:55 AM This would be an amazing development. No more imprisoning our community!
Sonja Maddox 3/15/26 8:58 AM No detention centers in Pierce County. No more detention centers in Washington State.
george kurzman 3/15/26 9:15 AM Detention and incarceration should be a last resort, and should never be run for profit by private enterprise. Geo Group should be banned from Pierce County. Federal immigration authorities are acting illegally, depriving people of their civil and human rights. Pierce County should decline to participate.
Marian Schwartz 3/15/26 9:17 AM I fully support this proposal. We should not be building more detention centers, or expanding the current ones.
J. Tebaldi 3/15/26 9:19 AM I support the proposed moratorium on any detention centers in Pierce County. The federal government has shown they can't be trusted and we already have a federal detention center in Tacoma. If possible, I would support a longer moratorium than the 6 months/1 year extension currently in the draft ordinance.
Jody Wickett 3/15/26 9:20 AM I do not want ICE detention centers in pierce county or anywhere actually
Rebecca Smith 3/15/26 9:31 AM ICE is not treating detainees with the protections of the law. We must take care of our neighbors. Detaining people without due process is heinous and needs to be stopped.
Mike B 3/15/26 9:37 AM I support a ban on the siting, expansion, or establishment of detention centers and facilities of involuntary confinement in Pierce County.
Aphrodite Sauser 3/15/26 9:39 AM We do not need a facility in Pierce County. It is detrimental to our community.
Gee D 3/15/26 9:43 AM I fully support this proposal and want to thank all of the sponsoring council members. I urge the rest of the council to be on the right side of history and support this proposal.
Kelsey 3/15/26 9:45 AM I fully support this moratorium. More detention camps offer no value to our community. It doesn't improve public safety, but it does harm the environment and our neighbors. A moratorium is a strategic and morally upright choice.
alicelia and robert warren 3/15/26 9:49 AM We support this proposal for a moratorium on expansion or establishment of detention facilities. We couldn't be more opposed to our tax dollars being used for this purpose!
Jason J Stone 3/15/26 9:52 AM I support this ordinance.
Janeen Provazek 3/15/26 9:53 AM Please, no more detention centers! They are inhumane! We are better than that…
Jerry Bates 3/15/26 9:58 AM No more private prisons or detention centers. The Feds try to prevent our reps from inspecting the current facility. Not acceptable. All private prisons need more oversight.
Lee Kellett 3/15/26 9:59 AM I support this proposal for a moratorium on expansion or establishment of detention facilities. I am opposed to my tax dollars being used for this purpose!
Samantha McLenachen 3/15/26 10:02 AM As a fellow human being, a mother, and a Pierce County resident, I strongly support the prohibiting of the expansion or establishment of detention centers involving involuntary confinement in Pierce County.
Elizabeth Essig 3/15/26 10:19 AM Thank you for supporting No expansions of detention centers. I support humanity and ask for No detention camps in Pierce County. Thank you.
Melissa Clay 3/15/26 10:19 AM I support the proposal…. NO new immigration facilities here. I stand with my neighbors against the variety of human rights violations happening.
Heidi Schutz 3/15/26 10:19 AM I support the proposed legislation. The existing detention center in Tacoma already does so much harm. Instead of building more of the facilities we should be working towards the ultimate eradication of the existing facility and until that happens, improved conditions and humane practices in the existing one.
Leslie Holmsn-Anderson 3/15/26 10:26 AM These "detention centers" are concentration camps under a more benign-sounding name and they are obscene!
Gina Spadoni 3/15/26 10:28 AM Absolutely no new detention centers. (I want any and all abolished).
Shari larson 3/15/26 10:29 AM I support the proposed detention moratorium. NWDC should be closed. No one should profit off imprisoning people
Lana Bostic 3/15/26 10:37 AM We do not need any more detention centers in Washington state.the NMDC is not helping anyone and needs to be closed down. Support the Moratorium now! Thank you
Kathleen Bloomfield 3/15/26 10:38 AM No more Detention Centers! These are money making Concentration Camps. ICE Out for good! Thank you so much for this proposal.
Rodney Clark 3/15/26 10:39 AM I support this proposal. We do not need to waste valuable resources to detain people unlawfully. Instead, our resources should go to supporting our local communities, parks, at risk youth programs, etc etc. Allowing more ice detention centers does not strengthen our community, it weakens it.
COZETTE SHACKELFORD 3/15/26 10:49 AM ABOLISH ICE - NO MORE DETENTION CENTERS!
Sarah Coleman 3/15/26 11:04 AM I support this proposal. We already have history of Japanese internment in Pierce County. Let’s not add these camps to our history for future generations to look back on in horror.
Constance Claussen 3/15/26 11:04 AM This has huge implications and is driven by misinformation.
Mary Herman 3/15/26 11:08 AM Please support this proposed ordinance. ICE and private prisons actively harm our community. Pierce county may want to be pro-business but it's important that we take a stand and attract businesses that align with our values and help our community thrive. Not supporting this ordinance will do the opposite.
Jamie Parrott 3/15/26 11:08 AM This is disgusting.
Julie Andrzejewski 3/15/26 11:10 AM I strongly support this ordinance. Under no circumstances should we allow any expansion or new detention facilities in Pierce County. I appreciate the foresight - had we passed something like this before, we wouldn't have people being help illegally and inhumanely in the NWDC in Tacoma. We want to close that prison for profit! Why would we allow another one? Thank you.
Kassidy Kimberlaib 3/15/26 11:30 AM Please do not build any more detention facilities in Pierce County. The one we currently have is violating the human rights of the detainees. I cannot believe I actually have to submit comment on why NOT to build more concentration camps in 2026.
Nicole 3/15/26 11:33 AM No more detention centers. They are inhumane. People should be treated as humans and not kept in cages.
Jennifer Clouser 3/15/26 11:35 AM I urge you to pass Ordinance No. O2026-505, the detention facility moratorium. Pierce County already exceeds its fair share of detention placements. According to the State Department of Social and Health Services' 2025 report, we disproportionately house SVP placements. The existing immigration detention facility in Tacoma demonstrates inadequate regulatory oversight—it has been repeatedly cited for health and welfare violations. Private detention is inherently corrupt. Profit-driven corporations lobby for harsher sentencing to fill beds and maximize revenue. They cut corners on health, safety, and mental health services. Without this moratorium, these predatory corporations will target Pierce County, seeking communities where they face minimal resistance while we bear all costs. Pierce County's 2023 litigation against Western State Hospital proves the real danger: improper discharges overwhelm our law enforcement, courts, and health systems. This moratorium gives us time to establish proper oversight standards. Detention facilities are tax-exempt, reducing our local tax base while imposing service burdens on residents. We pay the cost without having a voice. This moratorium protects Pierce County from concentrated public health risks, corporate predation, and fiscal burden-shifting.
Sarah Staley 3/15/26 11:36 AM Please search your conscience to support this proposal.
Vernon Ng 3/15/26 11:41 AM I strongly support this moratorium on building any more concentration camps in our county.
V Sparks 3/15/26 11:44 AM These concentration camps/detention centers need to be stopped. This treatment is inhumane and we should be caring for each other as human beings, to protect and care for another.
Stacey F Romero 3/15/26 11:46 AM We absolutely need a moratorium on additional detention facilities in Pierce County. We cannot allow another internment camp nor any other type of detention situation, whether it's considered public or for-profit. We have so much blood and pain on our hands collectively; to name two causes, the GEO Group for-profit prison in Tacoma and the shameful forced detention of Japanese Americans at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. We cannot allow this to happen again here.
Vicky Stanich 3/15/26 11:59 AM I strongly support Proposed Ordinance No. O2026-505. We need to build permanently affordable housing not concentration camps.
Debbie Cafazzo 3/15/26 12:13 PM Pierce County already bears a disproportionate burden of the state's responsibility for housing facilities related to corrections, civil commitment,involuntary detention, and behavioral health treatment. In addition, it has been established that the privately operated ICE detention center in Tacoma violates standards of health and human decency. I support this moratorium.
Connie Huerta 3/15/26 12:19 PM No more inhumane practices. No more violence. No more detention centers.
Sophie Miller 3/15/26 12:48 PM GEO claims to provide 24/7 “robust healthcare services” at NW Detention center. There have been EIGHT detainee hunger strikes in less than three months since the start of the new year. Detainees have used the only agency available to them and refused meals for up to 29 days in protest of the lack of timely medical and dental care, as well as other human rights violations. The NW detention center not only fails to uphold its claims of “robust health care”, but abuses its detainees who are held illegally and indefinitely; while heavily restricting their communication and retaliating against whistleblowers. We must not only prevent expansion of detention centers, but support any actions available to the council (refusal renewal of business license) to close NW Detention Center and free all detainees. Thank you for your efforts. Every action, no matter how small, makes a difference.
Rob Demko 3/15/26 12:59 PM Please support this Moratorium Pursuant to Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.70A.390; Prohibiting the Siting, Expansion, or Establishment of Certain Detention Centers and Facilities Involving Involuntary Confinement; and Adopting Findings of Fact. On behalf of the people of Tacoma and Pierce County. No more new Jails or Private Prisons for the Federal Gov’t.
Terry Spencer 3/15/26 1:07 PM Pierce County residents do not have to support cruelty and maltreatment of other human beings. There is a. parallel here with th concentration camps of teh 30's, In that the population chose to ignore. I would like my Pierce County to not allow detention centers until they can prove that they follow the laws against cruel and unusual punishment and teh 4th amendment.
Jon B. Knutson 3/15/26 1:09 PM I completely support this proposal. It’s a slippery slope from detention center to concentration camp and they aren’t much different. We cannot support the activities of ICE.
Romey Haberle 3/15/26 1:23 PM I strongly support this moratorium to allow the Council time to assess and further document all the impacts of allowing new detention or other confinement uses within the County. Thank you, Pierce County Council, for bringing forth this legislation and highlighting the many arguments against allowing for these, including but not limited to the disproportionate negative impacts to our community. Although legislative language is carefully neutral, there is an underlying ethical and moral imperative for us all to face the example of what a private detention facility looks like in the Tacoma tideflats center and consider if this is what we want in our community. This legislation brings to light issues regarding all our County detention or confinement facilities but note that this is for a temporary development moratorium only. I encourage the Council and the public to speak up to make a true and permanent commitment through amending Title 18A PCC to specifically address siting, zoning and development plans for future public or private, new or expanded detention facilities of all kinds, and build in stringent restrictions and guardrails for these in the future.
Laurie Burns 3/15/26 1:29 PM We live in an area where there have been many warehouses built. It’s pretty scary because they could hold lots of people. Most are empty and they are almost everywhere. Pierce County needs a definite moratorium on private and public detention centers especially when the rule of law is not being followed by our leaders in Washington and ICE is locking up more than just illegal immigrants. I was worried when Tacoma allowed warehouses to be built in a sensitive area off S. Tyler and S. 56th St. Something did not seem right!
Cory Carson 3/15/26 1:33 PM Support the moratorium, we do not need more detention centers. We are not in normal times, and we have to protect ourselves from repeating the mistakes of our past. Specifically, we have to protect ourselves from doing another Camp Harmony at the puyallup fairgrounds.
Ferdinand Reeder 3/15/26 1:43 PM No more detention centers!
Jay Oak-Schiller 3/15/26 1:48 PM I support this moratorium. I believe that for profit detention centers are important unethical, and I believe that ICE is terrorizing our neighbors and putting innocent people in these detention center. For these reasons the county should do everything in its power to stop them.
Melissa McBurney 3/15/26 2:10 PM I strongly support an indefinite moratorium on detention centers. We need to protect our community from ICE, the for-profit prison system, and other federal overreach.
Monica Taylor 3/15/26 2:15 PM No new detention facilities!
Vicki Bates 3/15/26 2:16 PM Sadly, we cannot trust the federal government not to warehouse and incarcerate human beings for the benefit of authoritarian control. Our County should take every action necessary to block the acceleration of the private prison syndicate.
Tracy Byington 3/15/26 2:21 PM No additional detention centers no changing current establishments to allow then to become detention centers . ICE/ DHS OUT !
Olivia Baughman 3/15/26 3:04 PM I support this proposed ordinance putting a moratorium on certain new or expanded detention facilities in Pierce County. My primary focus is the controversial, privately owned Tacoma ICE Processing Center. The moral choice is to prevent any more of these despicable private prisons from being sited locally.
Elisha Arafel 3/15/26 3:10 PM Please support this proposal which would “Prohibit the Siting, Expansion, or Establishment of Certain Detention Centers and Facilities Involving Involuntary Confinement; and Adopting Findings of Fact.” This is a necessary step to prevent the unlawful and often racially discriminatory detention of immigrants (including lawful US taxpayers and residents) in Washington state. Doing anything less will amount to collaboration with Trump’s rising fascism and white supremacy.
JS Anderson 3/15/26 3:41 PM I support not expanding the concentration camps to Tacoma.
River Reier 3/15/26 3:52 PM I am writing in support of the proposed memorandum on immigrant detention centers in Pierce County.
Carmen VS 3/15/26 4:12 PM ICE detention center should not be a part of Tacoma
Jessye Jones 3/15/26 4:31 PM A detention center for our friends and neighbors is a horrifying thought. I will absolutely not be supporting modern day concentration camps.
Grace Adler 3/15/26 4:34 PM I think this proposal is one of the most helpful things we can do to pause the harms to our neighbors.
Jeff P. 3/15/26 4:50 PM Private prisons are incompatible with the character of Peirce county. The community does not want them, as evidenced by the fact that the one we already have (NWDC) is chronically understaffed because nobody wants a job torturing the most vulnerable in the community. We are better than that and we know it. Uphold the standards of this community and bar the creation of any further private prisons, by any means necessary.
Elizabeth Scott 3/15/26 4:57 PM I support Proposal 02026-505 to develop a moratorium on detention centers in Pierce County.These detention centers are inhuman and are being built to create a moneymaking stream for GEO and their investors. I have a friend who was detained in November and kept for 2 months and he reported the flow of primarily young males from latin countries into and out of the facility. These were not criminals, but were people just trying to support their families. My friend and his wife have been here for 25 years. They have never committed a crime, work hard, pay taxes and raised 3 successful children. Yet he was detained and kept there for 2 months, before his son and his lawyer were able to get him released for $15,000 bond and wearing an ankle monitor. His next court day is a year from now. What is the point of that? If they build more detention centers they will put more hard working immigrants into them and in order to keep them full will start putting those of us who are protesting this inhuman immigration policy into them as well. There is no end in sight to this. Pierce County must not allow any more detention centers now or in the long term. We also must work to get the NWDC out as well. Thank you for approving this moratorium
Colin Maloney 3/15/26 5:14 PM I very much support this proposed ordinance. The US imprisons a larger percentage of our population than any other nation, and many of those detentions are unnecessary and unjust. Pierce County should do all it can to reduce the number of detentions, especially when they are being pursued by an authoritarian federal government which is violating people's human rights. Thank you to the Council members who have proposed this, I hope it passes unanimously.
sol ozuna 3/15/26 5:45 PM I’m writing in support of proposed ordinance No. O2026-505. The tax paying citizens of Pierce County have repeatedly showcased our stance with the NWDC & ICE. We say NO to any new development or expansion plans for additional concentration camps. These developments aren’t about keeping people safe, they are a scheme built to profit GEO & their shareholders while those detained are subjected to severe mental/ physical health risks. SHAME!! ICE OUT OF TACOMA, ICE OUT OF PIERCE COUNTY!!
Tracy West 3/15/26 6:01 PM I absolutely support putting a moratorium in place regarding detention centers. All people deserve respect and dignity and immigration detention centers, their contractors, and the federal government need to be held to high standards.
Jordan Seto 3/15/26 6:03 PM I support this proposal because I am very concerned about the human rights violations that are occurring in the NWDC and feel that this detention center should be closed and no further facilities should be opened.
Nicholas D Swenson 3/15/26 6:09 PM ICE out of our community.
Rachel 3/15/26 6:40 PM Absolutely - moratorium. We do not need to be building modern concentration camps in our backyard.
Aimee 3/15/26 7:06 PM I support this proposal and would encourage the council to find a way to close the current detention center. These centers and facilities are being used to hold people in inhumane conditions without allowing them due process. They should all be closed until the system is reformed.
Nicole Coleman 3/15/26 7:23 PM I support not expanding the detention centers. Our community does not need this, we need peace.
Pam Ketzner 3/15/26 7:28 PM I support this proposal. Pierce county does not need another or any detention centers. The current center is not caring for people with needed healthcare, food and shelter. Thank you!
Diann Sheldon 3/15/26 7:34 PM I most definitely support a moratorium on any new or expanded detention centers in Pierce County. We must keep our County safe for immigrant communities.
Lauren Atwill 3/15/26 7:42 PM I strongly support Proposed Ordinance No O2026-505 to adopt a moratorium on detention centers in Pierce County. I do not support detention centers to house our immigrant community members while they go through the immigration process. Thank you for sponsoring this proposed ordinance.
Zain Orion 3/15/26 7:44 PM Detention Centers are concentration camps and are a stain on our collective humanity. They should not exist, here or anywhere.
Jen Spivey 3/15/26 7:55 PM I fully support a moratorium on the development of detention centers. The one currently located in Tacoma is a hotbed of human rights violations. We should be taking steps to protect our immigrant neighbors, not put them further at-risk of violence.
Jane Trancho 3/15/26 8:10 PM I support the moratorium on adding any additional detention facilities in Pierce County. Please, let our Council be on the right side of history and do whatever we can to abolish these despicable prisons.
Diane Shaughnessy 3/15/26 8:21 PM I urge you to stop any new detention centers. This is a shameful time in our country that such persecution is being committed by the federal government. Please take a stand to stop any new detention centers.
Morgan Powers 3/15/26 8:23 PM I support this legislation. No more detention centers!
Dorian McGlannan 3/15/26 8:25 PM Oh PLEASE get ICE out of our state. The thought of any more of these detention centers send me over the edge.
Tammy Liddle Lobban 3/15/26 8:26 PM Please pass ordinance 2026-505.
Margaret Bostrom 3/15/26 8:44 PM I am fully in support of this ordinance establishing a development moratorium on the siting of public and private detention centers and/or other facilities that enact involuntary confinement. I hope that this ordinance passes and that when it expires in six months, it is extended. The ICE detention center already sited in Tacoma is well known for its abuse and neglect of the human beings detained there. These facilities are not just a burden on their communities as described in the ordinance; they are also examples of our society's moral failure.
Skye Olsen 3/15/26 8:45 PM As an active community member, I completely support a ban on all ICE detention centers from now til the end of time. Tacoma is a proud community oriented city made up of many different kinds of people. We want safe communities for us and for our neighbors no matter the color of their skin. As a community we are hurting. This moratorium will give us time to heal our communities and improve our immigration efforts so we can lead the nation in the humane treatment of all living beings.
Amelia Phillips 3/15/26 8:51 PM Pierce county does not need any additional detention centers. We need to focus our energy on rehabilitation and making quality of living improvements for its residents
Lesia Many 3/15/26 9:08 PM We need to shut down all detention centers because they are profiting off the detainees. I will not support my taxes being used to abuse, rape, murder detainees. If you vote yes, you will be tried for crimes against humanity. Let anyone who has concerns into this illegal hell hole. What are you hiding. Complacency is corrupt, evil and racist.
Kim Chisholm 3/15/26 9:10 PM I support this proposal. Please do the right thing and pass it. Thank you.
Sarah Toole 3/15/26 10:03 PM I dont want a detention center in my neighborhood
Laura Ranes 3/15/26 10:06 PM For the safety of Washingtonians, we need to say no to increased illegal, barbaric, and unsafe detention. No ICE facilities in Pierce Co. Tacoma detention center is a disgrace on our community. Surprise inspections by: Health Department, as well as State and Federal Representatives.
Nicholas Kasovac 3/15/26 10:22 PM Support – Ordinance O2026-505 Dear Chair Hitchen and Members of the Pierce County Council, I am writing in support of Proposed Ordinance O2026-505, establishing a development moratorium on the siting, expansion, or establishment of detention facilities and other forms of involuntary confinement in unincorporated Pierce County. Under the Growth Management Act and RCW 36.70A.390, counties have both the authority and responsibility to enact temporary moratoria when doing so protects public health, safety, and welfare while appropriate land-use standards are developed. The proposal before you reflects precisely that kind of responsible governance. Pierce County has already been asked to absorb a disproportionate share of facilities involving involuntary detention, civil commitment, and confinement. The ordinance’s findings acknowledge the strain this concentration places on local courts, behavioral health systems, housing, infrastructure, and community resources. Taking time to evaluate cumulative impacts is not obstruction—it is good planning. The staff report further notes that Pierce County’s zoning code currently does not clearly define or regulate detention centers or similar facilities, creating uncertainty and exposing communities to land-use decisions without sufficient planning standards. A moratorium provides the breathing room necessary to correct this gap thoughtfully. Recent federal activity further underscores the need for local deliberation. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a solicitation seeking contractors to establish detention capacity in this region, demonstrating that federal decisions about confinement infrastructure may occur rapidly and without meaningful local input. While federal agencies may pursue their operational mandates, the siting of facilities within Pierce County remains a matter of local land-use governance. Counties retain both the right and the responsibility to evaluate how such facilities affect infrastructure, services, and long-term community planning. As a pediatric occupational therapist and Infant Family Specialist who has worked with families in this region for decades, I see firsthand how policy decisions ripple through what I often describe as the relational ecology of a community. Families, service systems, neighborhoods, and children’s developmental environments are deeply interconnected. When systems of involuntary confinement concentrate in one place, the effects extend far beyond the facility itself—touching housing stability, behavioral health systems, family relationships, and the everyday environments in which children grow and develop. This conversation must also acknowledge place. Pierce County exists on the traditional homelands of the Puyallup Tribe and other Coast Salish peoples, whose stewardship of these lands predates modern governmental systems. Decisions about land use and confinement infrastructure carry historical echoes that make careful deliberation even more important. Respect for this land and its communities calls for thoughtful governance rather than rushed development. The moratorium proposed in Ordinance O2026-505 is therefore a prudent and legally sound step that allows Pierce County to: • review its land-use regulations • evaluate cumulative impacts of detention infrastructure • engage the public in meaningful planning • and ensure that future decisions reflect the long-term interests of the county and its residents. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the Council to adopt this ordinance. Thank you for your leadership and your commitment to thoughtful local governance. Respectfully, Nicholas Kasovac, MSOT, OTR/L, IMH-E Pierce County Resident
Dr. Jackson 3/15/26 10:48 PM Thank you for being on the right side of history. Media outside the US rightfully refers to these facilities as concentration camps. Please continue the fight against fascism.
Laurie Bowman 3/15/26 11:09 PM I strongly support proposed ordinance 02026-505 adopting a detention moratorium proposal measure that would block detention expansion.
Asha Berkes 3/15/26 11:24 PM I work in Pierce County and firmly support this proposal to block more detention facilities being built in our communities. What ICE is doing is inhumane, illegal, and a moral stain on our country.
Arielle Wheaton 3/15/26 11:45 PM No detention centers in Pierce County!
Karyna Boykin 3/16/26 12:00 AM I fully support this proposal. There should be no expansion to the NWDC or other detention centers within Pierce County. GEO group profits off of racially profiling and dehumanizing folks. All elected officials at every level should be working hard to pass legislation to fight back against this facism. Not acting means being complicit.
Christine 3/16/26 12:02 AM No detention centers! Get em out of here! We can set the example that we won’t tolerate it.
Judith Lovelace 3/16/26 1:13 AM I support this ordinance. No more detention centers.
Rebecca Stith 3/16/26 4:22 AM Please pass. We have long known that the NW Ice Processing Center aka NWDC in Tacoma is poorly operated with ongoing public-health issues and chronically poor care of detainees. A moratorium on all new or expanded public and private detention centers in unincorporated Pierce County is critical. Facilities housing DHS/ICE detainees too often have resisted or blocked local, state, and Congressional oversight and inspections, and taken advantage of unclear laws and regs. Don’t allow such detention facilities to open in unincorporated county areas.
Robin Ferguson 3/16/26 5:41 AM Please keep detention centers out of Pierce County Pierce County doesn't want a future of bondage & cruelty. Support this Moratorium.
Frankie 3/16/26 5:59 AM Please do not allow any additional detainment centers in Pierce County. Please close down the ones already established. Focus on human rights!
judith chelotti 3/16/26 6:35 AM Pierce County Council I urge the council to pass a temporary development moratorium on various types of detention facilities in Pierce Co., including private and public detention facilities. We need to have a moratorium on these facilities. We don't want immigrant detention now and forever. You see what is going on. Do you want prison camps here? Many other jurisdictions have put these in place. This is an emergency.
Gen Obata 3/16/26 6:56 AM As the grandson of Japanese-Americans forced to live in concentration camps during the second world war, I strongly support the proposed ordinance. It is extremely important to put in place a moratorium on all new or expanded public and private detention centers in unincorporated Pierce County.
Sunny G Cairns 3/16/26 7:19 AM I applaud every action that limits and reduces expansion of detention facilities in Pierce County. Our emphasis in Pierce County should lead with aid and compassion rather than detainment and isolation. All of our county should stand together against these immoral prisons.
Brian and Sue McCluskey 3/16/26 7:21 AM We don't support detention facilities being built in Pierce Co. We are especially opposed to the private prison industry and will oppose any move to build or acquire them.
Peter Sullivan 3/16/26 7:38 AM I support this proposal. No ICE detention centers in Pierce County!
Steven B Cairns 3/16/26 7:50 AM Thank you. By all means, please oppose the expansion or creation of detection centers. The fact that neighbors are arrested and detained with NO due process is unConstitutional and immoral.
Heather Evans 3/16/26 7:50 AM No to more detention centers. Thank you for passing this legislation
AJ Mickelson 3/16/26 8:19 AM We do not need any more detention centers that involuntarily detain anyone, criminal or otherwise. These detention centers are notorious for inhumane treatment and unsanitary conditions. We need to shut down all detention centers and provide more transparent oversight for the existing facilities.
E G 3/16/26 8:23 AM Pass the legislation banning detention centers. The aggressive, violent, inhumane targeting of people of color in our community is unlawful, racist, hateful, and repulsive. It must stop, and those responsible for it must be prosecuted. End it now.
NATALIE BATES 3/16/26 8:24 AM Support
Rachel 3/16/26 8:26 AM Do not build more concentration camps, and get swank the skank out! We want a community and a government that cares about people, ALL people.
Katherine Speaks 3/16/26 8:28 AM Detention centers are not a solution. The Tacoma detention center is already a stain on our community.
Deborah McGaffey 3/16/26 8:30 AM No more detention centers in Pierce County please. We do not need them nor do we support them. This is not how we wish to treat our community.
Vanessa J Henry 3/16/26 8:33 AM I strongly support the proposed Development Moratorium on detention centers.
Val 3/16/26 8:46 AM I strongly support this proposal. No more detention centers in Tacoma or Pierce County!
Emma W 3/16/26 8:49 AM I strongly support this proposal and any effort to reduce and fully stop detention centers in this state. Protect the people and keep families together, always.
Anastasia Greenmore 3/16/26 9:03 AM I strongly support barring any further investment in detention facilities. Our community is not safer with these hateful, violent facilities in our area. Our neighbors all deserve dignity and respect.
Carol Thuy Bui 3/16/26 9:06 AM We do not need anymore detention facilities or prisons in Pierce County. No more opportunities for human rights abuses!
Rob & Sandy Peterson 3/16/26 9:10 AM NO DETENTION FACILITIES. Phase out the exiting one as soon as possible.please! Thank you!
Ana María Sierra 3/16/26 9:22 AM Pierce County Council: 1 urge the council to pass a temporary development moratorium on various types of detention facilities in Pierce Co., including private and public detention facilities. We need to have a moratorium on these facilities. We don't want immigrant detention now and forever.You see what is going on. Do you want prison camps here? Many other jurisdictions have put these in place.
Kacey Martinez 3/16/26 9:28 AM As a fellow human being, a mother, and a Pierce County resident, I strongly support the prohibiting of the expansion or establishment of detention centers involving involuntary confinement in Pierce County.
Jesse Inman 3/16/26 9:34 AM I support. Stop Private Detention
Janet Wuco 3/16/26 9:36 AM I completely support this proposal. We need to prevent any expansion of the incarceration of our neighbors in the inhumane conditions of the detention center already located in Pierce County.
Michael Reynolds 3/16/26 9:40 AM I have been ashamed to live in a city which houses a privately owned prison for immigrants. We should have forbidden that place long ago. We should do everything we can to forbid any other privately owned prisons. If the governmeent cannot incarcerate prisoners themselves, they should never hire someone else to do it.
Isabella B 3/16/26 9:42 AM Strongly support this! No more glorified camps
Megan Kilpatrick 3/16/26 9:55 AM I support this proposal wholeheartedly. The already existing detention centers have proven to be sites of human rights violations. The behavior of their staff, ICE agents, and CBP is unacceptable. I do not want people to be treated so poorly in my community.
Brenna Chase 3/16/26 9:56 AM No more detention centers aka concentration camps in Pierce County!
shari 3/16/26 9:59 AM NO DETENTION CENTERS HERE! We have enough problems without having a detention camp here they are sick inhumane and very shameful.
Julie Boberg 3/16/26 10:07 AM Washington has a long history of unlawful and cruel detention, including Japanese internment, and we must not allow our county to continue in that horrible tradition. No new detention centers. Ever again. We must also take radical action to abolish ice and permanently shut down the concentration camp already located in Tacoma.
Kelly G 3/16/26 10:11 AM I strongly support this proposal.
Kenneth Zirinsky 3/16/26 10:17 AM I support the development moratorium on certain types of detention facilities in Pierce Co., including private and public detention facilities involving involuntary Confinement.
Sam Lovelace 3/16/26 10:22 AM I support this proposal. We need to focus our tax dollars that HELP Americans, not throwing people in jail and perpetuating racism.
Joan Austin 3/16/26 10:30 AM We need immigration laws that are fair and humane. Detention centers are un-American and immoral. I do not support my tax dollars to be spent this way.
Danae Dotolo 3/16/26 10:33 AM I am writing as a resident of Pierce County to support a moratorium on expansions of any involuntary detention centers. This moratorium will allow a rigorous and community engaged process that would allow a better assessment of the impacts of these centers on our communities. I am extremely concerned about the use of Pierce County resources to support the inhumane confinement of people from our community and beyond. Continuing these incarcerations unchecked makes the county complicit in these unjust actions.
Sam 3/16/26 10:36 AM As a descendant of Japanese Americans who were forcibly detained at the Puyallup Assembly Center and later sent to Minidoka, Idaho during World War II (over 7,000 detainees from this region), I strongly support Proposed Ordinance No. O2026-505. The ordinance moratorium's aim to prohibit the siting, expansion, or establishment of detention centers in Pierce County is a step in a positive direction for our communities. The trauma and injustice of that era continue to echo through generations, and I urge the Council to adopt this ordinance as a commitment to acknowledging and learning from the mistakes of the past. By supporting this legislation, Pierce County can honor the memory of those who suffered under government-sanctioned confinement and take a stand for civil liberties and human rights. Please let our history guide us toward a more just and compassionate future.
Daniela Escontrela Dieguez 3/16/26 10:39 AM Hello, My name is Daniela Escontrela and I live in Tacoma (Pierce County). I am writing to express strong support for the detention moratorium in Pierce County. I don’t want immigration detention in the county because I have already seen first hand the negative impacts detentions are having on our communities. People are scared to leave their houses to work or even for basic necessities such as buying groceries. Allowing more detention facilities to operate in the county will only serve to create more fear and it will not make our communities safer. Furthermore, ICE detention in general lacks oversight. Standards for detention were recently lowered, and new detention centers in our region would be subject to lower standards. This has resulted in record numbers of deaths and health issues in detention in the US. So far 11 have died in ICE custody in 2026. I want to emphasize that I don’t want the moratorium to result in new zoning code that allows ICE to detain people in Pierce County. ICE has indicated that they are thinking about expanding their detention capacity in our region. We want the county to create zoning code that blocks that from happening in every way possible. We realize that a moratorium is temporary. We don’t want a moratorium that leads to new zoning code that allows for immigration detention to expand, for all the reasons given above. Lastly, I do not want the moratorium to lead to new zoning code that expands opportunity for other kinds of involuntary confinement. I don’t support any form of involuntary confinement, and i am not alone in feeling that way. No new jails, no new involuntary treatment facilities. Thanks for your time and consideration, Dani Escontrela
Karen Gilbert 3/16/26 10:42 AM As an immigration lawyerI strongly support this proposal that affects all people in WA. Thank you for working hard to protect all of us from inhumane and unnecessary prison camps.
Carlos Hernandez 3/16/26 10:42 AM Our community needs housing, food, health care. We do not need concentrations camps.
Sheila Pickard 3/16/26 10:46 AM TIME SENSITIVE TODAY BY 1:00pm: sample comment. Pierce County Council: I urge the council to pass a temporary development moratorium on various types of detention facilities in Pierce Co., including private and public detention facilities. We need to have a moratorium on these facilities. We don't want immigrant detention now and forever. You see what is going on. Do you want prison camps here? Many other jurisdictions have put these in place. This is an emergency. TIME SENSITIVE TODAY BY 1:00pm: sample comment. Pierce County Council: I urge the council to pass a temporary development moratorium on various types of detention facilities in Pierce Co., including private and public detention facilities. We need to have a moratorium on these facilities. We don't want immigrant detention now and forever. You see what is going on. Do you want prison camps here? Many other jurisdictions have put these in place. This is an emergency.
Tommie Oakley 3/16/26 10:53 AM We need to stop locking up our neighbors. No new detention centers, now or ever. We need to support our neighbors, not lock them up
Emily Saeger 3/16/26 11:18 AM The ban against detention facilities should be permanent. And shutdown the Northwest ICE Processing Center now.
Kathleen Weber 3/16/26 11:22 AM I fully support this proposal - a moratorium on using more Pierce County resources for involuntary detention centers. The process will allow for more community conversation and will help our communities listen deeply to the people who are most impacted by these facilities.
Patrick J Arneson 3/16/26 11:26 AM Without due process, these are concentration camps and must not be allowed.
Nancy Brakke 3/16/26 11:38 AM I strongly support the prohibition of future siting, expansion of or establishment of certain detention centers involving involuntary confinement. Thank you to the proposal sponsors.
Sarah Gray 3/16/26 11:51 AM Pierce County already bears a disproportionate burden of the state's responsibility for housing facilities related to corrections, civil commitment, involuntary detention, and behavioral health treatment. In addition, it has been established that the privately operated ICE detention center in Tacoma violates standards of health and human decency. I support this moratorium.
Erin Dilworth 3/16/26 12:09 PM Please support this legislation!
Greg Briggs 3/16/26 12:13 PM Not only do I support this proposal, but also I am against all private prisons. That change should be permanent. Incarceration shouldn't come with a profit incentive for anyone. Furthermore, we should treat unlawful presence as the secondary civil infraction it was always supposed to be. If we did that if we could pair it with comprehensive immigration reform to improve the lives of ourselves and our neighbors through economic opportunity and improved public trust, health, and safety. Sensible enforcement can be done with care, kindness, and dignity at a local level. Separating our need to reduce criminality and our own prejudice should always be an active endeavor to prevent systemic racism. Doing so with thoughtful policy improves public safety and expands protections of our civil liberties. We need change nationally, but our local policies should reflect the change we want to see.
Dale Wright 3/16/26 12:16 PM My spouse Pamela and I strongly urge the Pierce County Council to adopt Proposed Ordinance No. O2026-505. As people of faith, we are called to speak out against immoral profiting from cruelty toward marginalized and vulnerable populations including our neighbors. Geo should not be allowed to profit from their gulag anywhere in America and least of all not in Pierce County. Do not allow the Geo cancer to spread.
Candice R 3/16/26 12:24 PM I fully support a moratorium on all carceral projects in Pierce County and especially those operating for profit. Every person who lives here deserves freedom of movement and the right to self-determination. I honor and respect our immigrant neighbors and appreciate what they bring to our culture, economy, and society. "Where life is precious, life is precious" -Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Vanessa G 3/16/26 12:32 PM These detention centers are nothing but modern day concentration camps meant to profit off the suffering of immigrants. They should not be allowed in our community.
Stephanie Ostmann 3/16/26 12:39 PM No further involuntary detention centers should be allowed in Pierce County or anywhere in Washington.
Sara Miller 3/16/26 1:16 PM Pierce County does not need any new detention sites. Support the moratorium.
Jen 3/16/26 1:41 PM No more detention centers!
Colleen Winchester 3/16/26 2:43 PM I fully support this Development Moratorium. I recently moved here and was horrified to find that Tacoma already plays host to a detention center. It is a stain that will affect Tacoma's reputation forever. Please do what can be done to close this one down and guarantee others won't be built .
Cassandra 3/16/26 2:51 PM I support any bill that will stop concentration camps from being built within this county. ICE facilities are known for egregious amounts of inhumane treatment of detainees of which many are children. Many who have been imprisoned within these facilities have witnessed or personally been subjected to varying levels of torture, and sexual abuse by ICE workers. This is wholly and unquestionably unacceptable. We should be opening investigations into these facilities, not building more of them.
Diana Quinn 3/16/26 3:22 PM Please stand against expanding detention centers anyplace in WA.
Kerry R Niesen 3/16/26 4:17 PM I support the proposed moratorium on new detention centers in Pierce County. It is already deeply concerning that our community hosts an ICE detention facility, and expanding detention and deportation infrastructure would only add to that harm. Allowing additional facilities that rely on involuntary confinement would reflect poorly on Tacoma. I want to live in a city that stands for dignity, compassion, and fairness, and that looks out for the well-being of everyone in our community.
Rob Huff 3/16/26 4:22 PM A short term moratorium to stop ICE expansion in unincorporated Pierce County makes sense on a number of grounds. First, it allows for careful consideration of zoning regulations to ensure that anything that is proposed doesn’t cause an undue burden on a local community. And most of all, it is the right moral choice for the county to do everything in its power to stop the illegal and immoral acts of the current federal administration, to cast out our neighbors and turn back on our commitment to the rich society that is created by the presence of recent and long ago immigrants in our communities. It is time to take a stand.
Clark Winchester 3/16/26 5:05 PM I fully support the proposed Ordinance 02026-505. I am ashamed that we have such an activity going on in our community and ashamed that the US government would revert to Nazi tactics to increase their power and wealth. Thankyou for putting this proposal into play. I expect the County will adopt the ordnance as a first step to clean up the mess the Federal government has created
Evan Boyd 3/16/26 5:54 PM I strongly support this moratorium on the siting, expansion or establishment of detention centers in Pierce County. The federal government has been carrying out unlawful detentions and deportations utilizing these centers, and causing irreparable harm and fear within our immigrant and POC communities. Pierce County needs to put the safety and constitutional rights of its citizens first by instating this moratorium.
Madeleine Sosin 3/16/26 8:10 PM We must enact these proactive measures to prevent the expansion of immigration detention capacity in Pierce County and to protect the well-being of local communities. We must stand up against this inhumane incarceration of our neighbors. NO MORE DETENTION CAMPS IN PIERCE COUNTY! Thank you to the sponsoring councilmembers. Our community does not want to expand the detection centers. The Tacoma detention center is already a stain on our community. For the safety of Americans, POC, and our neighbors we need to loudly say no to increased illegal, barbaric, and unsafe detention.
LMJ K 3/16/26 9:14 PM Not only a moratorium — please ban development of additional detention facilities in Pierce County. Detaining immigrants has been a travesty so far with no true improvement in sight.
Jordaniel Wolk 3/16/26 9:28 PM I support the moratorium on immigrant detention facilities
Ernie Oliver 3/16/26 11:36 PM I support the Pierce County Council adopting Proposed Ordinance No. O2026-505 because it takes a clear and compassionate stand against the expansion of detention centers in our community. By prohibiting the siting of new detention facilities, this ordinance reflects our shared values of dignity, fairness, and humane treatment for all people. It also affirms Pierce County’s commitment to pursuing safer, more just alternatives that strengthen families and communities rather than relying on incarceration. Passing this ordinance is an important step toward a more equitable and forward-looking future for our county.
Peggy 3/17/26 8:47 AM We don't want anymore detention centers in Tacoma. We don't want the one we have now.
Patricia Ranstrom 3/17/26 9:05 AM No more concentration camps in our state. The shame of the NWDS is bad enough. Our state must not propagate captive human slavery. It is morally and ethically disgusting.
J.H.M 3/17/26 11:58 AM I fully SUPPORT a development & expansion moratorium on various types of detention facilities in Pierce Co., including private and public detention facilities. Existing facilities have already proven that they are absolutely incapable of providing safe, healthy, HUMANE, moral, nor ethical temporary processing services in support of the claimed mission of utilizing due process in deportation. In practice they have always been INHUMANE CONCENTRATION CAMPS. Our state, our county, like so many others ALREADY HAVE HAD CONCENTRATION/INTERNMENT CAMPS in our not so distant history... they are dark stains on our past that should NOT EVER BE REPEATED. It is past time to take a stand and STOP THIS INHUMANITY against our residents and citizens.
Miranda Sharp 3/17/26 1:12 PM I %100 support this proposal. The NWDC (Northwest Detention Center) is an abhorrent atrocity that continuously violates basic human rights, due process, and on top of that is on a SUPERFUND site unfit for any life whatsoever where people are simply left to rot. This must stop.
Christiane Clarke 3/17/26 4:04 PM I would like Pierce County to be on the right side of history
Julia Bobadilla 3/17/26 10:53 PM Please approve support ordinance for no detention centers. Thank you. https://online.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/council/iview/proposal.cfm?proposal_num=O2026-505
Daniela Acuna 3/18/26 9:40 AM My name is Daniela Acuna and I am a constituent residing in North Proctor, Tacoma. I’m commenting today to voice my support for the detention moratorium, in hopes that down the line the council considers halting new detention or involuntary confinement centers as a whole in Pierce County. The main reason being that folks are terrified. People do not feel safe even with the presence of NW Detention Center, and my neighbors, our neighbors, deserve to feel safe where they live. Local resources should not be going towards further detainment of individuals, but other important resources that empower the community, rather than confine them. So, I just wanted to provide some food for thought for the council down the line, as well as voice my support for the current moratorium at hand, that I believe will encourage non-rushed, well-thought out future discussions of detention centers. Thank you for your time.
Sue Lepore 3/18/26 3:33 PM I wholeheartedly support this proposal. Thanks to the sponsors
Carol Mangan Kindt 3/19/26 10:59 AM I support this proposal, but a moratorium extension of 10 years, or until the next charter review, makes more sense. We can't allow another detention center in Pierce County under ANY circumstances, and we have to be able to foresee the possibility of it as long as this federal administration is in place. No GEO Group buying of any parcel of land in Pierce County should be allowed. No contracts with ICE, including pension and retirement plans for county employees should be considered (this includes any contracts with the GEO Group or any other private prison agencies). This is imperative and mandatory language should be used to prevent future harm.
Erika Bartlett 3/19/26 8:27 PM We need more public facilities of all kinds BUT prisons.
Katherine c 3/20/26 9:48 AM Detention centers are hate against our own community members. No more.
Tyler M 3/20/26 1:46 PM In no way should there be detention centers here in Pierce County, nor in the rest of the world. This would be a breach of trust of their constituents, and human beings altogether.
Robin Ferguson 3/20/26 2:42 PM Pierce County does not need another dentention center. Water & other natural resources are needed for our community not for an unneeded & unwanted dentention center.
Amanda hartzler 3/21/26 12:47 PM Supporting the moratorium. The scheme to build more detention centers makes zero sense- if they were really going after the undocumented “worst of the worst”, they would have run out of deportees a long time ago. Undocumented people commit far less crime than Ù.S. Citizen do- numerous studies support that fact, and yet they are getting terrorized and put in these inhumane camps- it’s the people putting them there who actually belong there, and Trump most of all. If his money wasn’t so insulating him from any kind of consequence- I think he’s probably committed every serious crime there is by now. Also, even by their own terrible standards, there shouldn’t be a need for more detention centers- who are they going to put in there when they run out of immigrants to andreally anyone with darker skin to jail? That’s a scary question to consider, and I think I can guess who. No more detentions! How about investing in something other than war, jail, or political opulence? What about the social programs that were gutted, health insurance, education, medical research????? They are destroying this country, and anyone who thinks otherwise is either fully blind, too easily fooled, or an oligarch themselves.
Tara Charkowski 3/21/26 2:24 PM Thank you for this legislation. Civility must rule - no more detention centers.
Scot McIntosh 3/21/26 5:24 PM No ICE/CBP/DHS concentration/torture camps in Pierce County!
Sara Protasi 3/22/26 9:42 AM I am writing to support the moratorium. Detention camps are inhumane and we should work towards a different way oof handling immigration in the country. More camps are never the solution.
Sarah 3/22/26 9:52 AM Pierce County should not be spending any money or resources on detaining community members, regardless of immigration status. No more ICE detention centers!
Kathleen Grover 3/22/26 1:51 PM Our diverse county should not allow any more detention centers. ICE & DHS have shown they are not operating according to the rule of law and their horrific terrorism must be stopped.
Joy Bonney 3/22/26 8:41 PM I fully support this moratorium and hope that you will do the same.
Paula Sandler 3/23/26 4:53 PM I live in Seattle, but still wish to voice my support for this ordinance. This ICE facility routinely disregards detainees human rights. Detainees face retaliation for advocating for there rights. This shows up inappropriate us of solitary confinement, and other actions. Overall, detainees are denied appropriate medical care, and not allowed to meet with their attorneys. The food is of very poor quality. The Center repeatedly refused government officials to tour the facility. It is run by Geo, and for profit business. This creates a conflict of interest as Geo will spend as little money as possible on the conditions in the Center in order to increase their profits. This is shameful.
Phil Harty 3/23/26 6:01 PM I'm writing to support ordinance 02026-505 for a moratorium on expanding and building detention centers in Pierce County to prevent any immigration terror, inhumane conditions, and the lack of accountability from these facilities. Also as an educator in Tacoma I've noticed the amount of fear that the immigration terror has on families who come from various marginalized groups that are targeted. The violence and immigration terror that has happened in places like Minneapolis, Chicago and Portland shouldn't be allowed in our area. Those cities have successfully been able to win some protections against immigration terror through an ordinance like this to block the private detention centers from expanding. Let's put people over profit and protect the most vulnerable in our community from this kind of violence in our community
Morgan Greenfield 3/24/26 8:11 AM The moratorium on immigrant detention facilities or expansion of the current one should be permanent, but in the meantime I support even a temporary one.
Samuel Kigar 3/24/26 9:32 AM I absolutely support legislation that prevents expansion of detention centers.
Candace Soran 3/24/26 11:49 AM We do not need more detention centers. No!
Jennifer Blais 3/24/26 11:53 AM This community and celebration of culture and diversity is the reason I chose to raise my family here. This is a devastating move for the community and city.
Lily Rich 3/24/26 12:18 PM Please pass this proposal! We do not need or want any more detention centers in Pierce County! Immigrants are a valuable part of our society. Reports from detention centers tell of disgusting mistreatment, abuse, and neglect. People are being denied their constitutional rights. We cannot allow this to continue. NO MORE DETENTION CENTERS!
Kate Agyei Yeboah 3/24/26 12:30 PM No more or expanded detention centers!!! We cannot continue to build and fund these facilities.
Kathy Macheras 3/24/26 12:38 PM I support this proposal and hope it helps there to be much consideration on this issue and eventually end for-profit detention centers in our city.
Elizabeth Cruthers 3/24/26 12:39 PM With the amount of concerns that exist with the current facility, I do not feel it is appropriate to expand at this time
Kelsey Sowell 3/24/26 1:04 PM I wholeheartedly support this moratorium. Immigrants only make our community better and stronger. ICE out! Reject illegal detentions and inhumane treatment.
Brenna Greenfield 3/24/26 2:01 PM No more detention centers here. This is not how we should build or "protect" our community. No rule by fear. People aren't illegal. Existing should not be made illegal.
Kyle Peirson 3/24/26 2:43 PM I strongly support this proposal. It protects proposed lands for real housing, jobs, and public services, instead of locking it into a costly, harmful ICE expansion. Keep funding focused on people, not expanding a detention system that wastes taxpayer dollars and harms families.
Jillian Risser 3/24/26 3:04 PM We do NOT need to fund the expansion of detention centers!
David Chandler 3/24/26 3:18 PM These facilities are historical atrocities that will only get worse as Trump's mass deportations don't go as planned. Hitler's Plan A was mass deportation too, and we know what wound up happening at his "detention facilities" when it was harder than expected. We should already be ejecting the NWDC - agreeing to any expansion in 2026 is going in with eyes wide open and saying yes to not only the current atrocities, but those we know are to come.
Fiona Cleary 3/24/26 4:39 PM I support the proposed moratorium on siting, expansion, or establishment of detention or involuntary holding facilities in Pierce County. The conditions in existing detention and holding facilities have been well documented to be inhumane through various detainee's court records. This is reasonably expected to continue or become worse in any new facility. The county has a moral duty to prevent the expansion of such suffering of our immigrant neighbors.
thy nguyen 3/24/26 5:18 PM Shut down all migrant detention facilities and provide humane, just, and equitable pathways to residency / citizenship for all! Free all detained migrants!