City of Helena staff: ICE facility near airport allowed to hold detainees for short stays

Although a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office holds detainees on behalf of federal law enforcement, it does not break Helena’s zoning rules that prohibit jails on airport land, city staff have concluded.

A complaint was lodged May 28 by Helena attorney J. Cort Harrington, who questioned if the Department of Homeland Security facility at 2800 Skyway Drive met the definition of a correctional facility, which would not be allowed in that zone of land. The DHS building also houses a Helena office for ICE labeled for enforcement and removal operations.

The location was named in a July 3 lawsuit filed by Upper Seven Law, which alleged 20-year-old David Cortes-Torres had been held there after an unlawful detainment on June 29 in Gallatin County.

On June 3, before the recent arrest, city spokesperson Amanda Opitz said the typical complaint goes as follows:

First, the complaint is filed and investigated via reviews of permits, zoning ordinances and other applicable information. This is what determines whether a complaint is valid or unfounded, meaning the city will decide if there is a problem that must be solved.

Had Helena determined the facility broke zoning ordinance, a courtesy notice would have been sent to the Helena Regional Airport Authority, which is the facility’s landlord, and DHS. The two parties would have within a specific time frame, typically 30 days, to fix the problem or face a violation notice and a citation.

Article Read the Helena ICE office zoning complaint

But the complaint was tossed, according to a June 3 reply to Harrington that said holding detainees was an accessory purpose of the DHS building and not the primary one.

“Correctional facilities involve detention as punishment or pursuant to criminal sentencing or trial processes,” Helena Community Development Director Christopher Brink wrote. “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility’s holding rooms function analogously to those as a police station, where temporary custody is incidental to investigative and enforcement activities(.) The facility does not operate as a jail or prison, and its primary purpose is not incarceration.”

Brink cited the small holding capacity and said the short-term custody was “subject to strict time limits” of 12-72 hours.

After describing the building as a public safety facility, Brink said the building did not violate zoning ordinance and did not need correction, closing the investigation.

Before the July 3 lawsuit, Mayor Emily Dean, who published the zoning complaint determination on one of her social media accounts, said Helena had not been informed of any ICE detainees being held in the city, responding to rumors that Helena law enforcement was assisting ICE.

As a federal entity, the Helena ICE office is not required to inform the city of its detainments or holdings, Opitz said Monday. She added that the Helena Police Department did not aid in the holding of Cortes-Torres or any others at the ICE facility.

The facility is also located on property managed by the Helena Regional Airport Authority, a power created in 1993 by a city and Lewis and Clark County joint resolution.

“Since its inception, the Authority has operated without financial support from the city, county or local taxpayers and has not received local tax revenue through mill levies,” Opitz said. “The Authority acts independently from general city or county government and oversees infrastructure, long-term planning and daily airport operations.”

On Monday, Dean told the Independent Record that the city of Helena is not involved in civil immigration enforcement. In prior city appearances, Dean had consistently rallied against city staff involvement in immigration enforcement beyond what is legally required.

“I confirmed with staff that the city of Helena does not own the land or property in question, and as of the time I posted that information to social media at about 5:20 (Thursday), had received no communication on the matter from federal immigration officials,” Dean said.