The city of Pembroke Pines issued a letter to President Obama this week, asking that he intervene in “the siting” of a proposed immigration detention center that would be built on a lot surrounded by the city.
The letters “urges the President of the United States of America to intervene in the siting of an ICE detention facility in Southwest Ranches,” and includes copy of a resolution approved by Pembroke Pines commissioners on Feb. 1 that
- opposes the siting of the ICE detention center in the town of Southwest Ranches;
- urges Obama to intervene;
- and reaffirms the commitment of Pembroke Pines “to comply with any and all obligations under applicable local, state and federal law.”
According to a statement issued today by residents opposed to the immigration detention center, “the resolution includes letters opposing the facility from 17 major homeowners associations representing approximately 90,000 residents and is a call to the President to step in and stop this facility from being placed so close to homes and schools.”
The Florida Independent has reported extensively on opposition to the federally funded and privately managed immigration detention center set to be built in South Florida. Residents of Pembroke Pines and the town of Southwest Ranches have voiced opposition to the detention center since ICE announced it had chosen the Southwest Ranches/Corrections Corporation of America proposal in June 2011.
Pembroke Pines Commissioner Angelo Castillo, who voted to support last week’s resolution, told the Independent in December that “nobody in Pembroke Pines wants to see this detention center come.”
