Regional Jail in The Dalles Will End Controversial Contract With ICE

The NORCOR board of directors voted today to stop housing prisoners for the federal immigration agency.

By Nigel Jaquiss

Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility, the regional jail that serves Hood River, Wasco, Gilliam and Sherman counties, will no longer house prisoners for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

NORCOR has been under pressure for at least three years to end its contract with ICE.

Critics, including the group Gorge ICE Resistance and a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, pushed officials overseeing the jail to stop doing business with ICE.

The facility was the last Oregon jail to house detainees for ICE, which led to daily protests outside the facility for more than two years as well as legal action.

Related: Five Advocacy Groups File Brief Urging Oregon Court of Appeals to End Oregon Jail's Contract with ICE.

Legislation that would have replaced ICE funding with state money failed in February, but today NORCOR said the contract will end.

"The NORCOR board of directors voted unanimously on Aug. 20 to discontinue housing all custodies for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency," the board said in a statement today. "This decision comes as the overall number of in-custody episodes has declined over the past year."

NORCOR will provide further details of how it will wind down the contract after its September board meeting.

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