The American Civil Liberties Union was joined by several civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups in asking a Michigan federal court on Monday for permission to weigh in support of a suit filed by the State of Michigan and City of Romulus seeking to stop an immigration detention center from taking over a former warehouse site.

The ACLU, Detroit Justice Center, MI Poder and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center asked to file an amicus brief in support of the suit requesting an injunction to quash the proposed detention center and said they object to the "harmful impact that an additional immigration detention facility would have on communities in Michigan."

The state and Romulus filed the suit in March against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stating that the former warehouse is not suitable for human habitation and is in close proximity to schools, neighborhoods and natural habitats that would be negatively impacted by the presence of a detention facility.

The civil rights groups said in their motion that they asked to give input because they deal with immigrants and people trying to navigate through the process to become American citizens and are concerned about the "harmful impact" this additional detention facility would have on the community.

"The Detroit Justice Center signed on to this amicus brief because we believe in ending all incarceration," said Nancy A. Parker, Executive Director of the Detroit Justice Center, in a statement on Tuesday. "We know that this facility will be used to disappear people away from their families and keep them in inhumane conditions, and we have a duty to fight against it."

Parker said the DJC has "substantial interest" in the Romulus warehouse suit as the proposed warehouse conversion threatens to inflict significant and irreparable harm on immigrant communities, neighboring residents, and the broader Southeast Michigan region.

"The Romulus facility would expand the infrastructure of civil immigration detention in Michigan while bypassing critical procedural, environmental, and community review requirements intended to protect the public," Parker said.

According to the motion, the warehouse could more than double ICE's immigration detention capacity in Michigan.

"A decision from this court permitting the defendants to turn the Romulus warehouse into an immigration detention center will have significant implications not only in Michigan, but also across the United States," the groups stated in the motion.

The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center provides pro bono legal services and works with community members affected by federal immigration, deportation and detention policies. MIRC Policy, Engagement and Communications Manager Christine Sauve said her organization joined the amicus brief to prevent expansion of "the harms that Michigan families and communities are currently experiencing."

"Warehouses were meant for packages, not human beings, and we have grave concerns about the government's ability to properly care for the people in its custody," Sauve said in a statement Tuesday.

Sauve said MIRC sees violations of the Constitution and national detention standards on a regular basis and that over the past five years, two people have died while in ICE detention.

"We are also alarmed by the government's statements that the new facility could hold up to 2,000 people as that would not only would this double Michigan's detention capacity, but it would do so in a setting not designed to meet the health and safety needs of human beings," Sauve said.

All of the groups share the plaintiffs' concern that the warehouse building cannot properly accommodate people living at the facility due to a lack of adequate plumbing and other infrastructure needed to house a large number of people for any given time period.

According to the motion, ICE has purchased several warehouses nationwide that they plan to convert into immigrant detention centers. The proposed site for the ICE detention facility is located about six miles from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a press release issued when the suit was filed that the 261,450-square-foot Romulus warehouse "is not and never will be" an appropriate location for a massive detention center.

"The Department of Homeland Security in its zealous quest for a bigger nationwide footprint, appears to have conducted an ill-conceived rush job, free from any traditional planning considerations or even basic concern for the many Romulus residents who will be impacted by their actions," Nessel said in the release.

Monday's motion states that plaintiffs' counsel took no position on the request to file the amicus brief and that defendants' counsel did not respond to the proposed amici's request for concurrence.

Representatives for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The plaintiffs are represented by Benjamin Charles Houston of the Michigan Department of Attorney General, David F. Greco of Greco Law PLLC, and Neil Anthony Giovanatti of the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

The defendants are represented by David J. Byerley, Jeffrey Alderette and Krystal-Rose Perez.

The case is State of Michigan et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., case number 2:26-cv-10968, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

--Editing by Vaqas Asghar.

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