Pierce County is moving to extend a moratorium on the siting, construction and expansion of involuntary detention centers, including those used by federal immigration officials.
The county approved a six-month moratorium on such activity last March. City officials say they now need to extend the moratorium so they can have more time to gather community feedback and study what permanent code changes will look like.
“Extending the moratorium will allow staff to continue this work, really do thorough engagement and ensure that county code importantly reflects community input,” Pierce County Senior Planner Justin Patterson told council members at a meeting this week.
The moratorium applies to several different types of detention centers, including jails and behavioral health centers. But it was specifically prompted by community concerns about federal immigration enforcement.
In July, the Department of Homeland Security put out a request for information indicating that it was interested in establishing one or more new detention centers in the greater Seattle area.
Patterson told council members that while much is unknown about that proposal, it does “constitute a further step in the siting process.”
“This is really important to note: The potential for a new facility to be permitted under current code is still very, very active without the moratorium in place,” he said.
Tacoma is already home to the Northwest ICE Processing Center, which has capacity for 1,575 beds. Several Washington jurisdictions, including Renton, SeaTac, Tukwila, Seattle and King County, have passed similar detention center moratoriums this year.
At a committee meeting this week, county council members voted unanimously to send the moratorium extension to the full council with a “do-pass” recommendation. It would go into effect once the previous moratorium expires in October.
The county ultimately plans to pass three different packages of zoning code changes to address the detention center issue. The current plan calls for the council to adopt a code package focused on definitions of different facility types this fall; a package focused on crisis recovery, rehab and local enforcement facilities in the summer of 2027; and a package focused on major detention facilities, including immigration detention, in the fall of 2027.
The county is seeking feedback on the proposed changes on its website.
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