Glenwood Springs sues landlord of ICE facility at 100 Midland Ave. over code violations

The city of Glenwood Springs filed a lawsuit Sept. 25 in Colorado state court against JG Housing Solutions, LLC, the owner of a building leased to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit alleges that ICE is operating the facility at 100 Midland Ave. in violation of local land use code by continuing to detain people after the city revoked its special use permit on April 28.

The complaint states that ICE was granted a special use permit in 2004 that allowed detentions of less than 12 hours. A community investigation using data from the Deportation Data Project and other public records found that ICE had held people for longer than 12 hours, violating the conditions of the permit. After the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission revoked the permit in April, ICE was no longer authorized to detain anyone at the facility.

Neither the General Services Administration, ICE, nor JG Housing Solutions appealed the revocation. The lawsuit alleges that detentions continued anyway. According to the filing, ICE data shows that between May 22 and Aug. 4, 2026, ICE detained 27 people at the property in ongoing violation of the city’s code.

Glenwood Springs argues that the landlord is responsible for leasing to a tenant using the property impermissibly. The city is seeking a court declaration that leasing the property for this use is illegal, fines for the violations, preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop the lease, and cost recovery.

The suit cites a GSA lease form, GSA Form 3517B, which requires private landlords to comply with all federal, state, and local laws governing the ownership and operation of their properties. The form was canceled on June 3, 2026, with no replacement. Glenwood Springs says the detentions violate the contractual pledge required by the GSA to comply with local laws.

At the Aug. 6 city council meeting where the lawsuit was authorized in a 6-1 vote, city attorney Karl Hanlon told the council that the city would pursue the case as it would any other land use violation.

“The issue that we're facing is somebody is operating a facility in violation of our code,” Hanlon said. “The question in front of us is, do we enforce the code or not?”

The suit states that the “City and the public will suffer irreparable harm if the violation continues.” It also notes that the city is not limited to issuing citations or filing complaints when a property owner violates zoning ordinances, but may seek an injunction to stop the violation.

The court has not yet set a hearing date. The city’s legal action follows months of community pressure and public records requests that documented the continued use of the facility for detentions after the permit was revoked.