- Editor’s note: this story was updated Friday afternoon with results from a Lincoln County commission meeting.
By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
A Texas military housing contractor may have withdrawn its interest in a piece of city land at Newport’s airport for a potential immigration detention center – but more than 10 new job postings for such a facility have surfaced since last week.
Days before the housing company dropped its request to the city of Newport, it also reached out to at least one private leaseholder at the airport to see if they were interested in sub-leasing their property.
Team Housing Solutions, a contractor with a history of housing National Guard troops near the U.S.-Mexico border, sent a letter to the city of Newport Nov. 4 asking to lease 4.3 acres adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard facility at the airport. The letter had vague details of a “federal project.”
In a city council meeting last week packed with more than 800 people, city officials announced that the company’s letter of intent has been withdrawn and councilors unanimously denounced the potential project.
But there is still uncertainty swirling around a potential detention center in Newport – and alarm over the relocation of the Coast Guard’s rescue helicopter 90 miles away to North Bend.
More job postings
In the days since, there have been 11 new job postings by Acuity International seeking nurses, case managers and other medical staff for a detention center with Newport marked as the job location.
There are 18 postings in total on Acuity’s website and more than half came after the withdrawal of the Team Housing Solutions’ letter to the city. Many reference looking for Department of Homeland Security or ICE experience while others directly reference a detention center.
“The Case Management Supervisor oversees the daily operations of the case management team within an ICE detention facility,” one of the listings read.
Other positions like the ICE detention officer and transportation officer previously listed on Asset Protection and Security Services website are no longer available.
Despite requests by the city and federal and state politicians, no one has received any word directly from the Department of Homeland Security or Immigrations and Customs Enforcement confirming a detention facility.
When the Lincoln Chronicle asked questions last week about a possible facility in Newport, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security issued a blanket statement that said:
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS is working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport the worst of the worst including gang members, pedophiles, terrorists, rapists, and murderers,” the statement said. “Secretary Noem is working with state and local governments to secure greater and more cost-effective detention space, like Alligator Alcatraz, Speedway Slammer, Louisiana Lockup and Cornhusker Clink.”
The agency did not respond to follow up questions regarding confirmation that a detention center was planned for Newport.
During the Newport council’s regular meeting on Monday, Mayor Jan Kaplan read a proclamation in opposition of the potential federal project.
“The city council will in cooperation with legislative leaders at local, state and federal levels pursue every legal and municipal avenue to oppose the siting of any ICE detention or processing facilities in Newport,” Kaplan said.
Reaching out
The city was not the only entity to receive an inquiry from Team Housing Solutions. The company also reached out to Signal Ventures, a data analytics company, which owns 10 acres of property at the airport.
“Yes, we have heard from a government contractor interested in a short-term ground lease but no direction on purpose or use,” said Jason Adams in a Nov. 11 email exchange forwarded to the city which the Chronicle obtained in a public records request.
An assistant to Adams answered Signal Ventures’ phone on Thursday and said Adams was not available but that the message would be passed along. The assistant later sent an email that Adams was not available for comment.
Since the city notified the public about the Department of Homeland Security’s possible interest in an ICE facility at the airport, other businesses have come forward with similar inquiries or estimates regarding their services.
Just days after the city received an inquiry from Team Housing Solutions, a local septic company was asked for an estimate for a federal project in Newport that would need pumping for 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of sewage a day for three years. The septic company told the Chronicle that could mean 500 to 1,000 people using the system.
A Newport disposal service was also contacted around Nov. 10 by a company claiming to be working on a federal project for waste removal and for an estimate for 30,000 gallons of water delivery. Since its initial inquiry, the company has not filled out forms needed for a drop box waste removal service, the disposal company told the Chronicle.
Helicopter’s whereabouts?
Concerns have also revolved around the fate of the Coast Guard helicopter once stationed at the airport.
The Coast Guard operates under the Department of Homeland Security. The helicopter was moved Oct. 31 to North Bend, but it is unclear whether that is temporary or permanent, whether it needs repairs or there are other operational issues.
City officials believe all the equipment has since been removed from inside the Coast Guard facility. The facility has several storage containers on the 3.5 acre property but without being able to go inside the building, there isn’t a direct confirmation of the building’s vacancy.
Last weekend, a Coast Guard helicopter patrolling the coast refueled with the city’s fuel instead of the Coast Guard’s dedicated tanks, a city spokesperson told the Chronicle.
The rescue helicopter has been in Newport since 1987. In 2013, the Coast Guard said it would shutter the facility and instead operate out of North Bend and Astoria. Fisherman’s Wives sued and Congress passed legislation that kept the Newport location running.
New standards regarding the closing of Coast Guard stations require the Homeland Security to conduct a risk assessment and a public comment period. Neither of those processes were followed, said Newport Fisherman’s Wives member Taunette Dixon.
The removal of the helicopter comes ahead of a crucial and dangerous time for Newport fisherman because the commercial Dungeness crab season will begin in December, Dixon said.
Over the past 10 years there have been 13 major fishing vessel incidents and 12 fatalities of Newport-based vessels or crew, Dixon said, and not having a Coast Guard Helicopter in Newport further increases the risks to safety.
“If they are going to do something this extreme they at least owe it to the community to communicate and tell our fishermen why their lives are being put at risk,” Dixon said.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
I want to say thank you to all the people in the community who are working tirelessly behind the scenes to resist this threat to our community. There are countless community members our here who are standing with you. We will come out to protest, write letters, anything that will help.
I wonder if there are any deed restrictions on the use of the Coast Guard property that the City of Newport transferred?
With names like “Alligator Alcatraz, Speedway Slammer, Louisiana Lockup and Cornhusker Clink.” I can see why they want to locate to Newport. What could be more perfect than The Dungeness Dungeon?
This cannot possibly happen in our town. We can’t lease the land, we cannot let ICE or the federal government take over our town. And we need our rescue helicopter back where it belongs.
Does Signal Ventures “own” the 10 acres as you state or are they leasing it from the city? I saw city council minutes in March 2025 regarding them taking over lease. If they are leasing it the big question is are there limitations on what can be done with the property? In addition, from looking at their webpage they are a real estate investment company that finds investors to develop properties, and they use data analytics to select which properties they invest in.