A gigantic warehouse across the street from an outdoor equipment store has become a flashpoint in Virginia as the U.S. grapples with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown — and a British Columbia company has been pulled into the fray.
The property arm of Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group did not know that the Virginia warehouse it owns was intended as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility at the time it agreed to sell the site, the firm said in a statement on its website.
Jim Pattison Developments said it publicly listed the site for lease or sale and accepted an offer from "a U.S. government contractor" to buy the property.
"Some time later, we became aware of the ultimate owner and intended use of the building," it said.
The firm said the sale remains subject to approvals and closing conditions and it intends on "complying with all applicable laws."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has said it plans to use the 43.5-acre site in Hanover County, Va., as a "holding and processing" facility.
The 550,000-square-foot industrial warehouse was inaccessible Wednesday, with its entrances blocked.
It's located near a shooting range, a heating equipment supply store and across the street from a hotel in the small town of Ashland, with a population of just under 8,000 people.
Homeland Security said in a letter to Hanover County — which includes Ashland — that the federal department intends to develop the warehouse to include "holding and processing spaces," offices and cafeterias. Other additions could include "tentage and a guard shack," the letter said.
The Hanover County board of supervisors was set to discuss the sale on Wednesday.
The small county's consideration of the sale comes in the midst of an immigration crackdown in the United States. Two U.S. citizens have been shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, prompting widespread protests.
"The concern about this facility is what we see in Minneapolis will come here," said Harry Lee Hancock III, who stood outside the county's administrative building with an anti-ICE sign ahead of Wednesday's meeting.
Some in the community worry the facility could bring with it an intensification of local ICE efforts and a crackdown on protesters, Hancock added.
Virginia is considered a blue state but Hanover County — a much quieter area than the nearby capital of Richmond — has a lot Republican-leaning residents. While a lot of anger has been directed at the possible sale online, Hancock said he will be interested to see if residents come out in favour of the deal.
Hancock said he doesn't think Jim Pattison Developments should be blamed but he does hope Canadian companies consider what their assets could be used for before they sell them.
Jim Pattison Developments, owned by British Columbia billionaire Jim Pattison, said in its statement that it would not normally comment on a private transaction.
"However, we understand that the conversation around immigration policy and enforcement is particularly heated, and has become much more so over the past few weeks," it said.
"We respect that this issue is deeply important to many people."
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518, a union representing food workers across B.C., wrote to the Jim Pattison Group on Monday urging it to "decline any involvement that would contribute to the ongoing attack on human rights."
The union said "the expansion of immigrant enforcement infrastructure, including ICE processing facilities, has had devastating consequences for workers and their families by creating fear and undermining fundamental human and labour rights."
It said the Pattison group has a responsibility "to consider the broader social and moral implications of this sale and any future sales to the Department of Homeland Security."
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said Tuesday that business leaders need to consider whether their decisions are contributing to the U.S. immigration crackdown.
In Vancouver, protests are planned on Friday outside the headquarters of the Jim Pattison Group and tech firm Hootsuite, which is providing social media services to ICE.
Emily Lowan, the head of the BC Green Party, says she supports the protests urging the firms to cut ties with ICE, calling it a “history-defining” moment.
“We can't continue to accept this level of complacency and an excuse from massive corporations and billionaires like Jim Pattison, who are claiming that the status quo and business-as-usual is acceptable in a time like this," she said.
Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky said in a statement on Wednesday that its technology makes public conversations "visible at scale" and the firm had a "responsibility is to ensure those voices remain visible."
She said Hootsuite's work with ICE "does not include tracking or surveillance of individuals."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
