A coalition of lawmakers, religious leaders and grassroots organizers on Thursday pledged to keep fighting plans for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Romulus, and decried the secrecy that has shrouded plans for the facility.

“We must organize. Use every single tool at our disposal to keep ICE out of neighborhoods," said U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, at a virtual news conference Thursday.

ICE has confirmed they plan to create an immigrant detention facility in the industrial Downriver town of around 25,000 people, home to Detroit Metro Airport. The facility at 7525 Cogswell Street spans more than a quarter-million square and signs about DHS building regulations "governing conduct on federal property" were posted to the front doors and windows around the facility.

The coalition speaking against the planned detention facility included religious leaders, nonprofits and Democratic federal and state lawmakers, including Tlaib, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, and state Reps. Dylan Wegela and House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri.

Many decried the federal government allocating tens of billions of dollars to ICE while taking funding out of programs they say serve the public good, such as Medicare, Medicaid and affordable housing.

State Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City, said ICE should be abolished altogether.

“ICE agents don’t need more training; they don’t need body cams. They need a different job," Wegela said.

The Romulus building, one of dozens of facilities ICE is planning to create across the country for detainees, according to a Bloomberg report, is located along I-275 between Ecorse and Wick roads. The front of the property has about 19,000 square feet of office space, and the warehouse area with spaces for trucks to dock is in the rear.

It sits just off an industrial stretch of road, across the street from an auto repair shop and a few miles from residential neighborhoods.

President Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement a marquee priority of his second term. The crackdown and increased presence of ICE in some U.S. cities during the last year has led to widespread protests, most notable recently in Minnesota.

Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight, who was not present during Thursday's virtual press conference, has also publicly opposed ICE setting up a detention facility in the city. The mayor previously said he's concerned about the secrecy from ICE, how the space will be used, potential public safety costs and the loss of a taxpaying tenant in the building.

But not everyone in Romulus is opposed to the new ICE facility.

Resident Richard Lilly, 48, said he supports ICE having a presence in the city. He said he doesn't believe everyone in the U.S. unlawfully should be deported, noting that immigrants have contributed to his own community, but Lilly believes former President Joe Biden's administration allowed too many people to come into the country. He said all immigrants should follow a lawful process to come to the U.S.

"If you've been here 30 years and you're doing the right thing, why didn't you apply for citizenship?" said Lilly, who spoke to The News from his home on Bibbins Street, about three-and-a-half miles from the Cogswell Street facility.

Richard Lilly's mother, Catherine Lilly, also staunchly supports ICE, and believes its agents are necessary to maintain law and order in communities.

"I'm for Trump, all the way. He's done a lot for this country," said Catherine Lilly, 72.

Warehouse purchases for ICE detention use are being administered under a Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract, which typically allows the federal government to put aside funding for military readiness.

In a public notice on Feb. 13, the U.S. Department of War confirmed that 24 companies would receive funds under a $55 billion contract supporting "Territorial Integrity of the US." None of the companies are based in Michigan, though they include GEO Group, which operates an ICE detention center in northern Michigan.

Specific plans have not yet emerged for how lawmakers and activists who oppose detention centers will formally push back. Dingell said, however, that anything that goes into the building would have to comply with local zoning regulations.

A protest is planned Monday evening at the Romulus City Hall, before the City Council meeting.

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(Staff writer Ben Warren contributed.)

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