ASHLAND, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES — A gigantic warehouse across the street from an outdoor equipment store has become a flashpoint in Virginia as the United States grapples with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — and a British Columbia company has been pulled into the controversy.
The property arm of Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group did not know that the 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 firm said in a statement on its website.
Jim Pattison Developments said it publicly listed the site for lease or sale and accepted an offer from “a U.S. government contractor” to buy the property.
“Some time later, we became aware of the ultimate owner and intended use of the building,” it said.
The firm said the sale remains subject to approvals and closing conditions and it intends on “complying with all applicable laws.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has said it plans to use the 43.5-acre site in Hanover County, Va., as a “holding and processing” facility.
The looming 550,000-square-foot industrial warehouse, surrounded by a fresh layer of snow and ice from a weekend blizzard, was inaccessible Wednesday, with its entrances blocked.
It’s located near a shooting range, heating equipment supply store and across the street from a hotel in the small town of Ashland, with a population of just under 8,000 people.
Homeland Security said in a letter to Hanover County, which includes Ashland, the federal department said it intended to develop the warehouse to include “holding and processing spaces,” as well as offices and cafeterias. Other additions could include “tentage and a guard shack,” the letter said.
The Hanover County board of supervisors was set to discuss the sale on Wednesday. Some local residents have posted on social media their opposition to the sale and intention to voice concerns in front of the board.
The small county’s consideration of the sale comes amid an immigration crackdown in the United States. Two U.S. citizens have been shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, prompting widespread protests.
Jim Pattison Developments, owned by British Columbia billionaire Jimmy Pattison, said in the statement that it would not normally comment on a private transaction.
“However, we understand that the conversation around immigration policy and enforcement is particularly heated, and has become much more so over the past few weeks,” it said.
“We respect that this issue is deeply important to many people.”
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518, a union representing food workers across B.C., wrote to the Jim Pattison Group on Monday, urging it to “decline any involvement that would contribute to the ongoing attack on human rights.”
The union said “the expansion of immigrant enforcement infrastructure, including ICE processing facilities, has had devastating consequences for workers and their families by creating fear and undermining fundamental human and labour rights.”
It said the Pattison group had a responsibility “to consider the broader social and moral implications of this sale and any future sales to the Department of Homeland Security.”
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said Tuesday that business leaders need to consider if their decisions are contributing to the U.S. immigration crackdown.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2026.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
