The effort to build an ICE detention center was put on hold after community members raised concerns – and then sued to keep a U.S. Coast Guard rescue helicopter in Newport, which court filings show was moved in the midst of ICE’s construction efforts. That happened after U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken blocked efforts by the federal government to relocate Newport’s Coast Guard rescue helicopter. Coast Guard officials “did not understand the impact of that statute and, as such run afoul of it, it seems to me,” Aiken said at a hearing in December. Although the Coast Guard argued the helicopter was only temporarily relocated, attorneys for Newport have argued it was moved to make space for a detention center. Work to prepare an ICE holding and processing facility was halted on Dec. 4 after the Coast Guard said the airport was no longer available.