Woodbury city officials have received written confirmation from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) representative that the federal government is no longer pursuing the warehouse at 11435 Hudson Road as a potential processing center.
In an email dated Jan. 20, 2026, City Planner Eric Searles asked ICE representatives to confirm whether “the federal government or its agents are no longer pursuing the property in Woodbury, Minnesota.” An ICE representative responded the same day: “That is correct.”
The correspondence, obtained by Woodbury News Net, marks the first direct written confirmation from ICE to the city regarding the status of the Hudson Road property.
Searles said in a follow-up email that, outside of that exchange, the city has not had additional conversations with federal employees or their agents. He confirmed that representatives from Woodbury and Washington County were in regular contact regarding the matter.
Discussion of the proposed site first surfaced in late December after The Washington Post reported that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security document identified Woodbury as a potential location for an ICE detention or processing facility with capacity of up to 1,500 detainees.
The report prompted weeks of public concern, packed City Council and County Board meetings and a formal letter of opposition from the Washington County Board of Commissioners.
Woodbury News Net contacted the owner of the Hudson Road property for comment but did not receive a response as of publication.
During the Feb. 11 city council meeting, Woodbury Mayor Anne Burt said the city had received “written documentation from a contractor for the federal government” stating the project was “off the table.”
“So based on that, we’re pretty confident,” Burt said. “We keep hearing too about drawdowns that are occurring, and with more and more of that happening, there seems to be, in my perspective, no need for [a processing center] whatsoever.”
While local officials and news outlets say reports of ICE activity have decreased since federal official Tom Homan announced a withdrawal Feb. 12, Sahan Journal reported that ICE agents had continued operating but shifted to less visible tactics in Twin Cities suburbs.
