The notorious and scandal-tainted former federal women’s prison known as FCI Dublin was rumored to be in the Trump administration’s crosshairs to make it an ICE holding pen, but the administration claims it has no such plans.

The East Bay women’s federal prison known as the Federal Correctional Institute in Dublin (FCI Dublin) closed in April 2024, having gained the ugly nickname of the “rape club” after a stomach-churning set of sexual abuse claims from the women incarcerated there was revealed to be so bad that the warden and even the chaplain were sentenced to prison for sex crimes. And once Trump took office again, the Dublin community has been worried that the Trump administration would try to turn the now-closed prison into an ICE detention facility.

But KTVU got a statement out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) insisting that they will not turn FCI Dublin into an ICE holding pen. "ICE does not have plans to use the FCI Dublin for immigration detention,” the department said in a statement to KTVU.

So that sounds pretty definitive, right? It does, but the rest of that same statement is so bizarre that its credibility becomes quite difficult to believe.  

"Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities," the statement continues. "Secretary [Kristi] Noem aims to work with officials on both sides of the aisle to expand detention space to help ICE law enforcement carry out the largest deportation effort in American history."

Immigrants’ rights activists are unconvinced this eliminates the risk of FCI Dublin becoming an ICE center.

"I know this agency sort of plays around with what the truth is, and the detention center could eventually be bought up by a private prison company,” Immigrant Legal Resource Center staff attorney Jean Laner told KTVU. “So then it might not actually be like the DHS owning it, but it might be a private company."

Coincidentally, Dublin’s congressional representative and aspiring California governor candidate Eric Swalwell just happened to hold some manner of press conference outside FCI Dublin just yesterday.

“FCI Dublin was closed after horrific abuse. It should not be reopened as an ICE detention facility,” Swalwell said. “I stand with our community in saying no to bringing ICE into Dublin. We deserve transparency, accountability, and public safety — not a repeat of past harms.”

Related: ICE Might Be Looking to Use Shuttered Dublin Women's Prison as Immigrant Detention Center [SFist]

Image: Jesstess87 via Wikimedia Commons