EVANSTON — There were several items on the agenda for the Uinta County Commissioners at their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 5; however, one item in particular dominated the discussion. The group WyoSayNo was on the agenda to discuss their objections to the proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center for Uinta County, although many local residents turned up to voice their support for the proposal as well. 

Kortney Clark with WyoSayNo said she was speaking as a former teacher and a mother, and read a statement saying she believed the ICE prison would bring short-term economic benefits but have a long-term negative impact for the community. Clark said she had a list of questions for the commissioners that she believes have not been adequately answered. 

Uinta County Commissioner Craig Welling said the commissioners had recently visited two facilities run by Management and Training Corporation (MTC, the company behind the proposal), one in California and one in New Mexico, and objected to the use of the term “prison” to describe them. Clark said the use of the term was appropriate because the people in them are locked up and held against their will but Welling maintained there was a difference between a prison and a detention center. 

Clark continued to ask questions of the commissioners, including about the level of oversight and whether an environmental impact study (EIS) would be completed, given the proposed site is next to the Bear River State Park. When asked the question about the EIS, commissioner Eric South said, “We hope not.” 

Welling said he wanted to explain that he had attended a community meeting hosted by WyoSayNo previously and his visits to the two MTC-run facilities had painted a very different picture than that portrayed at the community meeting.

“The information I received when visiting the facilities was very different than the erroneous information given at that meeting at the Beeman-Cashin,” he said. “That information was very flawed.” 

Welling said they were allowed to mingle and interact with people while visiting and that “it was a good experience.”

Clark asked about promises made by MTC about tax revenues for the county, and Welling said there had been no such promises made by anyone. He also said the county will not be held financially liable in any way should the project move forward. 

“I think folks may believe this is a bit further down the road than it is,” Welling said. “The RFP’s (requests for proposals) haven’t even happened yet.”

He assured Clark that if the project were to move forward, there would be community hearings and opportunities for citizens to question all parties involved, including representatives from MTC. 

Angie Fessler, executive director of the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Task Force (SAFV), spoke about her concerns regarding the number of sexual assaults that could potentially occur were the facility to be located in Evanston. She said such facilities are often problem areas for sexual assaults, and also voiced concerns about the practice of ICE separating mothers from children. She said given all of the data available, SAFV cannot support the construction of the proposed detention center.

Evanston resident Eric Mander read a letter from fellow residents Tim and Katie Beppler which compared the current policy of detaining immigrants and separating families with the treatment of the Chinese early in the area’s history. The Bepplers also said in their letter that “the number of potential jobs that would be created at such a facility in Evanston are illusory, or at least overstated, when you consider the adverse impact that will be felt by other public and private entities in terms of their work forces.” 

Multiple individuals who spoke against the proposed detention center said they did not believe the commissioners could have gotten an accurate assessment of conditions at such facilities because the trips were planned and coordinated with MTC. Mander urged commissioners to take an unannounced trip to such a facility in order to see what conditions are really like without “having a dog and pony show.” 

Welling reiterated that the visits the commissioners made to the two facilities were positive experiences, and he said there were instances in which they were able to see the detainees inside the facility, but the detainees could not see them.

“Sixty-five to 70 percent of the people we were looking at had smiles on their faces,” he said. “We could see them, but they couldn’t see us. That wasn’t theater. We found things in a much better situation than expected, and the concerns people have are not well-founded.”

Welling also stressed that those being held in the facilities were not all Latino but were from all over the world. 

Many local residents spoke in favor of the facility and voiced their beliefs that it would bring much-needed jobs to the area and they said opposition was grounded in politics. 

Jim Hissong said he attended the meeting for other reasons but felt compelled to speak after repeatedly hearing claims that locking up detainees is immoral. Hissong objected to that labeling and said, “It’s a sad commentary to resort to that when there’s just a difference of opinion.” 

Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson read from a letter sent to her by Evanston resident Brent Sanders, who was unable to attend the meeting. In that letter Sanders said he feels the argument over immigration policy should be done elsewhere and not fought at the county level. He said he believes the venture will bring jobs and growth in the tax base, and that those who are opposed have offered no alternatives to bring in similar growth. 

He urged the commissioners to move forward with a “well-thought-out agreement,” and said MTC would need to live up to the claims they have made in terms of number of jobs and wages, and the facility would need to have appropriate oversight. Sanders expressed the belief this could be accomplished with a “specific and detailed” contract. 

Evanston realtor Tib Ottley spoke and said he had gone along with the commissioners to visit one facility in New Mexico to see conditions for himself and determine if the concerns of those opposed were valid.

“I didn’t go down there to change anyone’s mind,” he said. “I went down there to change my mind, and that didn’t happen. It didn’t come across that they had spiffed things up for our visit.” He said he remains in favor of the proposal after his visit. 

Lubia Olivas, who also spoke at the previous meeting at the Beeman-Cashin building, again shared her concerns that the presence of a detention center in Evanston would drive Latino families from the area because they would feel discriminated against and would become victims of racial profiling and forced to carry proof of legal status everywhere. Other residents pushed back against those claims and said anyone who is here legally shouldn’t have a problem. 

Local resident Bob Wharff said the detention center is “an opportunity for our community to shine and show people the right way to do this.” He also said he believes it will bring professionals into the community who are dedicated to helping detainees. 

Other speakers said similar concerns over burdens on the community were prevalent before the first oil boom, but the citizens of Evanston had risen up and made things work, and they were confident the community could rise to the challenge again and welcome the facility and the jobs it would bring.

“No new employer comes in without impact,” long-time area resident Mike Pexton said. “Aren’t we smart enough to figure it out? Aren’t we capable of solving the issues?”

Following all of the public comments, commissioner Eric South said it had been a good discussion.

“We don’t know when this could happen or even if it will,” South said, “but we’ll continue to do our jobs and be diligent moving forward.”