CLEARFIELD: Critics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the presidency of Donald Trump have argued that the agency’s credibility suffered due to aggressive and opaque enforcement practices. These included large-scale raids that swept up non-violent immigrants, chaotic family separations accompanied by poor tracking systems, and detention conditions that raised alarms about medical neglect, overcrowding, and the use of solitary confinement. Civil liberties advocates also pointed to ICE’s expanding collaboration with local law enforcement, surveillance of journalists and activists, and resistance to transparency as factors that fueled fears civil immigration enforcement was drifting toward punitive, quasi-criminal behavior incompatible with democratic norms and due process.

Those national concerns have echoed locally at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a large immigration detention facility in Clearfield County operated by the GEO Group that employs nearly 400 people in the region. The facility has a mixed and controversial history, including repeated allegations of inadequate medical care and detainee treatment. Deaths have occurred there, including that of Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old detainee from China who died by suicide while in custody—an incident that intensified scrutiny of both ICE and GEO.

In response, Bobbi Erickson and a dedicated group of local activists have participated in multiple protests opposing the facility and the broader system of for-profit immigration detention. Most recently, on January 19, they gathered in Clearfield for the Rally For Freedom And Justice, standing from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM to voice objections rooted in human rights, accountability, and the belief that immigration enforcement should not come at the expense of basic dignity and civil liberties.