The Hanover County board of supervisors in Virginia does not have authority to veto the sale but said it hopes its position will prompt the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider.Brian Palmer/The Globe and Mail
A county in central Virginia is opposing the sale of a massive warehouse property owned by Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Developments to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be used as a holding and processing facility.
The proposed sale has provoked strong reactions on both sides of the border amid intensifying scrutiny of the agency’s enforcement operations. In Canada, people have pledged to boycott businesses owned by billionaire-philanthropist Jim Pattison, and B.C.’s Attorney-General has urged business leaders to consider their ethical responsibilities. In Virginia, residents have protested the planned facility.
Hanover County board chair Sean Davis announced the local government’s unanimous decision on Wednesday evening at a public meeting that drew hundreds of people.
“It is clear that this location is not an appropriate one,” he said to cheers. He added that the facility would be inconsistent with the area’s established business, residential and commercial land uses.
The board does not have authority to veto the sale but said it hopes its position will prompt the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider.
Jim Pattison Developments said it was initially unaware of who the buyer was and what the property would be used for.
The property arm of Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group claims it did not know that a Virginia warehouse it owns was intended as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility at the time it agreed to sell the site.
The Canadian Press
The DHS first informed Hanover County of its intentions in a Jan. 21 letter to its planning department.
“ICE is proposing to purchase, occupy and rehabilitate a 43.49-acre warehouse property in support of ICE operations,” the letter said. It stated that site modifications could include construction of holding and processing spaces, installing tents and a guard shack and adding security equipment.
Property records show Jim Pattison Developments has owned the sprawling property in Ashland, Va., since late 2022, adding a 553,000-square-foot warehouse building in 2024. It was assessed at more than C$65-million last year.
The company said in a statement provided to The Globe and Mail late Tuesday that it constructed the industrial building for its own operations but listed it for lease and sale when operating needs changed. It then accepted an offer from a U.S. government contractor.
“Some time later, we became aware of the ultimate owner and intended use of the building,” said the statement, noting the transaction is still subject to approvals and closing conditions.
“We understand that the conversation around immigration policy and enforcement is particularly heated, and has become much more so over the past few weeks. We respect that this issue is deeply important to many people.”
Vancouver mogul Jim Pattison’s company under fire for proposed sale of U.S. property to ICE
In Hanover, located about 30 kilometres north of Richmond, hundreds of people endured icy conditions and sub-zero temperatures Wednesday to voice their opinions on the proposed sale. Some held signs that said “Abolish ICE,” “ICE murders” and “Do all lives still matter?”
More than 170 people registered to speak. Among them was Kimberly Matthews, who told the board that residents are scared of the prospect of violent ICE agents in the community.
“You want what’s happening in Minnesota to go down in our own backyard? Build that detention centre here and that’s exactly what will happen,” she said.
Tina Steinberg said she supports the sale, noting that ICE agents are working to rid the country of “criminal illegal immigrants” at great risk to their personal safety.
“Please stand in unity with ICE to protect this country and keep its people safe from violent criminals,” she said. “It’s hard not to feel that the left and their protesters are not trying to destroy our country from within.”
In Canada, the proposed sale has sparked campaigns to boycott Mr. Pattison’s many businesses, including Save-on-Foods, despite his retail and development banners operating separately.
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Corinne Jackson, a Kelowna, B.C., resident and long-time customer of the supermarket chain, said she would be getting her groceries elsewhere until she hears that the sale is off.
“I hold nothing against the workers, and my heart goes out to them, for sure,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “But I cannot continue to line Pattison’s pockets with money that just makes him wealthier, and puts people at risk in the U.S. who are from immigrant communities. I can’t support a company that is supporting a fascist regime.”
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518 issued an open letter to Jim Pattison Group imploring the conglomerate to consider the “broader social and moral implications” of the sale and decline involvement.
The union also noted that grocery workers, whom it represents, have no control over such business decisions.
“Shifting the impact of these developments onto workers – through boycotts that reduce hours or income – places the burden on people with the least ability to absorb it,” president Patrick Johnson said in a statement to The Globe.
Kyle Chamberlain, a resident of Brandon, Man., said he shares in the discomfort of seeing events in the U.S. but that a boycott would only hurt Canadians.
When he saw a social-media post calling for widespread boycotts, he replied pointing out that Jim Pattison Group employs tens of thousands of Canadians and said opponents would be better off backing Virginia-based advocacy groups instead.
“Expecting these grocery store workers to leave their jobs because of what’s going on is unrealistic,” he said in an interview. “It’s counterproductive to what most people’s intent is.”