Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday that he will stand “firmly against” the potential transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Colorado because of local opposition, making his strongest statement on a heated political issue.
The Democrat said he is hearing from residents in Fremont County — home to two prisons under consideration to house the detainees — that the community opposes the transfer.
“The reports we’ve gotten over the last couple months is the people are fairly united — they don’t want to take that risk,” Hickenlooper told reporters. “I respect that.”
“They should have have the loudest voice in making that decision because it is their community,” he continued. “So if they are united in that sense — which it sounds like they are — I will respect their voice and I will be firmly against that transfer to Colorado.”
President Barack Obama’s plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center is generating significant controversy in Colorado with Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner leading the opposition.
Gardner visited Florence on Monday to hear from the community and recently traveled to the U.S. military base in Cuba to assess the situation. The detention center houses 91 detainees but 35 are expected to be transferred out by this summer.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet also recently voiced opposition to any transfer to the state, saying the detainees should be held in a military prison.
The two Colorado locations reviewed by the Pentagon for the transfer included the Federal Correctional Complex, which includes the medium, maximum and supermax facilities in Florence; and the Colorado State Penitentiary II in Cañon City, which is also known as the Centennial Correctional Facility.
Months ago, when the Pentagon first scouted the area, Hickenlooper’s office said he was still assessing “the costs, risk and impacts for Colorado.”
But he recently changed his tone. He told Colorado Public Radio on March 25 that he understood the community opposed the measure, but he stopped short of declaring his opposition.
“Certainly if the community feels strongly that they don’t want those individuals anywhere near their community, then I would support 100 percent …” he said.
In his office Tuesday, the governor said he still hopes to visit Fremont County and hear from residents, but said it’s not a top priority because he doesn’t believe the White House will choose Colorado.
“At this point it’s hypothetical,” he said. “My guess is that this decision will never come.”
“If I begin to get an inkling that it is going to happen,” he added, “I guarantee you I’ll go down to Fremont County before you can bat and eye.”
John Frank: 303-954-2409, jfrank@denverpost.com or @ByJohnFrank
