By Miles Layton

WINTON — A standing-room-only crowd filled the Hertford County Commissioners’ meeting Monday night as residents, clergy, activists and several out-of-town speakers delivered an unmistakable message: they do not want Immigration and Customs Enforcement operating out of the former Rivers Correctional Institution.

The 1,450-bed low-security prison, built in 2001 and owned by The GEO Group Inc., previously housed District of Columbia inmates under a federal contract. It has sat largely empty since 2021, when the U.S. Department of Justice declined to renew its agreement.

Now, after reports surfaced that the facility in Winton is being considered for conversion into an ICE detention center, the county board chamber was packed with citizens overwhelmingly opposed to the idea.

Throughout the night, applause frequently broke out after speakers denounced ICE and urged commissioners to resist the proposal.

Before we get to the public comment portion of the meeting, let’s start with this important note – Chairman Andre’ M. Lassiter Sr. clarified the board’s position — or lack thereof.

“With GEO or the federal government in any official capacity — no one has contacted us in any capacity to say they’re opening, not opening. So at this point, we don’t have a position because we don’t know enough information to comment,” Lassiter said during the meeting and in an interview afterward.  

“But we appreciate the citizens’ comments. We appreciate their passion. We take all of those things into consideration. We have very little input on the decision that will be made, but we always welcome the citizens’ comments and their concerns for our community.

He added, “The prison has been here over twenty-five years as a federal facility, and that predates this board of commissioners. And, you know, we became aware of it on Friday on Facebook, like most people. And, you know, we cannot — it is very hard to take a position on something you don’t know about.”

Commissioner Leroy Douglas II said he felt frustration was being directed at the board.

“But it seems like everyone in the room is coming at us like we are for them, but that’s not the case,” Douglas said during Commissioners’ comments. “So all I can say is I appreciate the fight. I wish the fight was done in when it was election time, but now we have this fight going on, and I just hope it’s directed in the right direction. That’s all.”

One last note about the meeting — Hertford County Commission business and a story about folks who were acknowledged for their service to the community will appear in a future story.

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Legal Argument for Federal Supremacy

Commission’s meeting room and even the hallway were filled with folks — several people spoke during public comment, some from the area, while others came from places between Norfolk and Chapel Hill.

Landon Lassiter argued that even if the county objected, it would have little authority to stop the project.

“I wanted to come and speak about the legality of the operations that would be conducted at Rivers,” he said.  “So a very relevant part of the Constitution that needs to be recognized would be the Supremacy Clause, which states if there’s a state or local conflict with the federal law, the federal law will remain supreme,” he said. “And so once GEO signs the ICE contract, they’re acting as a federal agent for immigration enforcement purposes, and courts have consistently ruled that private contractors serving federal functions enjoy the same immunity from local regulation as federal agencies themselves.”

He continued, “The reopening of Rivers Correctional Institution as an ICE detention facility is beyond the legal authority of the Hertford County Commissioners due to the fundamental constitutional and legal principles.”

“Rivers is already a purpose-built federal detention center that operated under a federal contract until 2021. There are no zoning changes, since only the federal tenant and the detainee type are changing,” Lassiter said. “This is a federal operation governed by federal supremacy, leaving the county commissioners not able to do anything.”

‘The Terror Is the Point’

Bradley Snyder of Norfolk delivered one of the most forceful speeches of the night.

“Today, Operation Creep arrested two ICE officers for repeated offenses in soliciting minors for sex,” Snyder said. “One of those was responsible for a myriad of background checks for those that want to serve in ICE. He’s responsible for their background checks.”

Snyder contrasted ICE training with his own experience in the Air Force.

“I had ten weeks to learn how to march, give a reporting statement, salute, and the basics of military life, followed by twelve weeks of training to learn to handle and inventory high explosives and precision-guided munitions, and then another year of apprenticeship in a three-inch-thick journal of training manuals, just to be a journeyman in my career field in the Air Force,” Snyder said.

Gripping the podium forcefully at times and talking in highly charged emotional tones, Snyder accused ICE of being recruited from the KKK, Proud Boys and the Jan. 6’ers, “who shouted and were sent to hang (Vice President) Mike Pence. Who brought pipe bombs to our Capitol. The incompetence is the point. The terror is the point.” 

Snyder accused ICE of operating through intimidation, declaring that “ICE is the executive branch’s terrorist organization.”

He continued, “The atrocities do not end at the detention centers. They are merely checkpoints for a myriad of human trafficking violations. Myriads of human beings, our God’s brothers and sisters, our family, our friends, disappeared into the night and sent to God knows where, in God only knows terrible conditions.”

Chairman Lassiter interrupted as Snyder’s time expired: “Excuse me, sir, your time is up. Thank you.”

Snyder concluded by rejecting the legal framing offered earlier by Landon Lassiter, who was sitting in the front, very close to the podium where Snyder gave his speech. 

“Everything this young man (Landon Lassiter) said is true, except you replace every time he said federal with White,” Snyder said. “It’s White supremacy. That’s what it is. It is not federal supremacy. It is White supremacy, young man.”

Though Snyder’s remarks drew loud applause from portions of the crowd, to be candid, it was a tense moment because Snyder seemed to speak directly at Lassiter, who remained still and quiet as that last quote hung in the air.

Health, Economy and Fear

Dr. Elizabeth Dreesen of Chapel Hill warned of far-reaching consequences.

“As such, we understand the allure to use Rivers, but recent news from other cities shows how opening ICE detention centers creates chaos in local communities,” she said.

“In Minnesota, local businesses saw declining revenue, and some shuttered completely. In Oregon, residents became so fearful of law enforcement that they stopped reporting crime altogether.”

She added, “Patients from detention centers are diverted to community clinics and hospitals, making local medical care less available to residents. Doctors and hospitals providing care to

ICE detainees have not been paid since October.”

“DHS is purposely circumventing local legislative processes to open these facilities because they know how disruptive these centers are to local communities and how deeply unpopular they are,” Dreesen said.

Rainier Bradshaw of Winton declared, “We don’t want ICE in our schools. We don’t want ICE at our jobs. We don’t want ICE in our neighborhoods. We don’t want ICE in our county. We don’t want ICE in our state. We don’t want ICE in our country.”

Mary Anna White told commissioners, “We all deserve to be treated with dignity.”

“Please do everything you can to stop the GEO Group from converting this facility for ICE,” she said. “This is like David fighting Goliath, and I want you to do it with all you have.”

The Rev. Jeff Douglas said, “When agents are afforded anonymity and carte blanche to do whatever they want to do to people under their control, brutality and depravity follow.”

“We have a choice tonight to support either becoming a part of this system of oppression and brutality or opposing it,” he said. “Let’s choose not to repeat this history now.”

Pamela Winborne invoked both history and faith.

“It goes back to slavery when our rights were taken away from us or used against us because we were Black and of color,” she said. “You know, life is short, and we need to… It’s precious. We got our precious babies coming up. You know, we don’t want them to be afraid to walk the streets.”

Stuart Fields warned of reputational damage.

“We understand that with ICE and what’s going on, they bring negative coverage,” he said. “How do you want people to look at Hertford County?”

Travis L. Williams called the proposal “inhumane” and “violence.”

“It hurts my heart to see this,” Williams said. “For us to even think about it coming to this county is inhumane. It’s violence.”

He added, “A day is going to come, we’re going to have to answer to God.”

Bobby Riddick closed with a personal appeal.

“It bothers me that we are going through this here, when we got so many other problems,” he said.  

Riddick continued, “I know it’s not much you can do now, but we, the ones that want to stop it, stand together. Nobody can stop us from going forward.”

As applause once again echoed through the packed chamber, the message from the overwhelming majority of speakers was clear: they do not want Rivers Correctional Institution reopened as an ICE detention center.