GOSHEN — Marbella Chavez wanted to cry tears of joy.
Chavez, who helped coordinate the Coalition Against the Elkhart County Detention Center in opposition to a proposed immigration detention center in the area, couldn’t do that upon finding out plans for the facility had been scrapped. She was working. Regardless, the news stirred her emotions.
CoreCivic, a private corrections company based in Nashville, Tenn., had withdrawn its proposal. The coalition won.
“It was a good, happy feeling that this was over,” Chavez said Saturday during a “victory celebration” put on by the coalition at College Mennonite Church. “We won and we had successfully protected the people here.”
CoreCivic officials notified Elkhart County commissioners last Monday that they intended to withdraw the plan, marking the end of a process that started in the fall.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement in October posted a request for information on the Federal Business Opportunities website. It stated that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE sought to identify potential detention sites near four larger cities — Chicago, Detroit, St. Paul and Salt Lake City.
Proposed facilities had to be within a 180-mile ground commute of the ICE office in those cities. The potential 55-acre Elkhart County site, on the west side of Elkhart County Road 7 across from the Elkhart County Solid Waste facility, fell within those guidelines as it related to Chicago.
News broke in mid-November that CoreCivic sought the land for a facility with 800 to 1,200 beds. Opposition to the facility materialized quickly after news of its proposal became public.