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The US Department of Homeland Security is in talks to buy a warehouse in Virginia owned by British Columbia billionaire Jim Pattison, with plans to turn it into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility.
ua January 21 letter officials in Hanover County, Va., the Department of Homeland Security shared its intent to “purchase, occupy and rehabilitate” approximately 550,000 square feet warehouse, which has been owned by Jim Pattison Developments since 2022.
“As part of the commitment, ICE may perform exterior and interior modifications to the existing storage facility,” the letter states, including “construction of holding and processing facilities.”
Pattison is a businessman and philanthropist whose conglomerate, the Jim Pattison Group, spans various sectors including real estate, automotive, media and retail.
Jim Pattison Group and Jim Pattison Developments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Potential deal has caused outrage and disapproval, includingg from the leader of the BC Green Party who is now calling for a boycott of Pattison’s Save-on-Foods grocery stores.
Canadian companies are facing criticism
Pattison is the latest Canadian company to face offe criticism over assotions with ICE.
As reports The Globe and MailVancouver tech company Hootsuite secured a $95,000 US pilot with ICE in September that involves monitoring social media discussions about the immigration agency.
ICE has too earmarked millions of dollars for a bulk order of 20 armored vehicles from Brampton, Ont.-based defense manufacturer Roshel.
Amid ICE’s sweeping immigration crackdown in which federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, Minn., one business ethics expert says companies need to be clear about where they draw the line about who they do business with or risk damaging staff morale and public opinion.
“If I were a CEO, I wouldn’t want my name or my company’s name, my brand, to be associated with what’s going on in the United States right now,” said Chris MacDonald, an associate professor in the Department of Law and Business at Toronto Metropolitan University.
“There’s a simple ethical question. There’s a question of right and wrong and whether it’s right for a company or anyone to contribute, even in a small way, to the activities that are going on.”
People across Minnesota participated in an ‘economic blackout’ on Friday to protest the federal immigration crackdown in parts of the state. Hundreds of businesses were closed for the day, and organizers urged people not to work or go to school.
In a social media video viewed more than 80,000 times TikTok alone, BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan called on Pattison to cut ties with ICE and encouraged people to boycott his grocery stores.
“As we look at an increasingly fascist and possible civil war unfolding in the United States, I think as Canadians we need to be crystal clear about who’s driving, who’s contributing to the crises we’re facing and how we can step up and take real action,” Lowan said in an interview with CBC News.
Thousands of ICE officers have been deployed across the US, including in Minneapolis and Maine, under mass deportation a campaign that met with fierce criticism and resistance from local politicians and residents and increased fear in immigrant communities.
Michael Berdan, an attorney and Hanover County resident who does immigration advocacy, says he strongly opposes the idea of an ICE facility in his community and says it undermines Pattison’s philanthropic efforts. Pattison is known for his large donations to Canadian Medical Institutions.
“A deal that promotes the fear and family separation inherent in immigration detention would be in stark contrast to those principles,” he told CBC News.
“And I think many of my neighbors, regardless of political differences, will recognize that this is not the best use for the county.”
The Hanover County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the potential purchase of the warehouse on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The Department of Homeland Security also invited several tribes to participate in the consultation.
