Representative Gomberg Sheds Some Light On Possible ICE Facility Coming To Newport

State Representative David Gomberg on Wednesday November 12th, continued to express concern about the removal of US Coast Guard (USCG) air rescue operations from the Newport Municipal Airport. “Rapid response in a marine emergency is a matter of life and death in our cold waters,” said Gomberg. “Removal of air operations from Newport, with no notice, could not have come at a worse time with weather turning and the crab season beginning.”

The sole USCG helicopter stationed in Newport, is a longstanding asset for search and rescue operations in the community, was quietly relocated to a USCG station in North Bend on October 30. Mounting evidence continues to indicate the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is planning to replace USCG operations at the Newport Municipal Airport with a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

“Every day, we have been receiving more credible evidence that our federal government is pushing to site an immigration detainment facility in our community,” said Rep. Gomberg. “And disturbingly, we are receiving no communications or confirmation from the federal government as to what they are planning. They are operating in the shadows and trying to fast-track this project with zero transparency or public engagement.”

On November 4, the City of Newport received a letter of intent from a federal contractor, Team Housing Solutions, to lease a 4.3 acre airport property near the USCG station to support operations of an unspecified federal project that they intend to be operational by December 1. On November 10, a Lincoln County septic company received an inquiry from another federal contractor, Acuity International, regarding costs to pump up to 10,000 gallons of sewage per day, for up to three years, from tanks that would be located at the airport.

In addition, Acuity International listed hiring ads on November 7 for a clinical team to be located at the airport. These positions include a clinical director, nursing staff, a physician, and an infection prevention officer. Another federal contractor, Asset Protection & Security Services, listed hiring ads the same week for Detention Officers and Transportation Officers to “provide care, custody, and control of those in ICE custody.” Asset Protection & Security Services lists on their site that their firm “offers full-service detention facility management, including security, migrant processing, and administrative support.”

“Reasonable people will have varying opinions on immigration policy,” said Rep. Gomberg. “But we should all agree that the bedrock of good government is transparency. I am calling on DHS and the Trump Administration to explain themselves to our community. If you want to turn our community into the West Coast epicenter of your immigration plans by December 1, then at the very least, you need to explain your plan and communicate with the people who you were sworn to serve. This isn’t how good or honest government operates, and we aren’t going to tolerate it.”