Michigan, Romulus sue Trump administration to block 500-person immigration detention center near Detroit

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the federal administration's plans to set up an immigration detention facility in Romulus, Michigan. 

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency purchased a facility in the Southeast Michigan community of Romulus with the intention of running a detention facility. ICE said in February that the facility and its construction will bring about 1,458 jobs to the community, along with $150 million in economic activity. 

After that information became publicly known, the Romulus City Council approved a resolution opposing the plans. U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, a Democrat from Michigan's District 13, also led a demonstration against the proposed detention center. 

Nessel and Romulus city attorneys argue in the lawsuit that the warehouse at 7525 Cogswell Street is unsuitable for detention and that federal officials violated multiple laws in purchasing and planning to convert the property. 

"Romulus Warehouse is simply not — and never will be — an appropriate place of detention," the lawsuit states.

The legal action was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. It names Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd M. Lyons, as defendants.  

Nessel also spoke at a press conference on Tuesday about her efforts, accompanied by Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight and state Rep. Dylan Wegela, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Romulus. 

The attorney general's lawsuit seeks to declare that plans to purchase, construct and operate the warehouse as an immigration detention center "is contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious," and furthermore seeks to vacate and set aside the decision to move forward with those plans. 

Nessel said that the proposed detention center is near residential neighborhoods, including less than a mile from an elementary school and a middle school. Nessel said her office and the City of Romulus believe federal authorities should have instead considered facilities such as existing prisons, jails or detention centers.  

"As the state's Attorney General, I have a legal and moral obligation to act if and when this administration behaves unlawfully and does so in a way that harms Michigan residents," Nessel said in a press release. "DHS in its zealous quest for a bigger nationwide footprint, appears to have conducted an ill-conceived rush job, free from any traditional planning considerations or even basic concern for the many Romulus residents who will be impacted by their actions."