Nearly 200 protesters, including former and current members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, descended on Hudson on Wednesday before a town council meeting, days after the federal government signed a contract to reopen the town’s shuttered prison as an immigration detention center.

The $528.6 million deal with GEO Group will effectively double Colorado’s immigration detention capacity to about 2,700 beds.

As the demonstrators, most from the Denver area, held up signs outside and inside the town council building, Mayor Joe Hammock took a video of the ceremonies before declining to comment, saying he “only works here.”

Sen. Julie Gonzales, who challenged U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper in the Democratic primary, and former Rep. Tim Hernandez, who lost his election to the state House also during his party’s primary two years ago, took part in the protest.

Some of the protesters interrupted the meeting after it got underway by pounding on the windows of the council building, halting it for 15 minutes. Hammock sent the police outside to disperse the crowd; officers were instructed to have their body cameras on.

The GEO Group reached a five-year, $529 million agreement with the U.S. government last week to double Colorado’s immigration detention capacity to about 2,700 beds, with a significant portion of them in the Hudson Correctional Facility, located about 30 miles northeast of Denver.

The prison was built in 2009 and held inmates from Alaska until 2014, when it was closed. Geo has had a 40-year public-private partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The facility, GEO has said, could, “depending on urgency” and the specifics, begin accepting detainees “in a matter of months.” GEO also reported that the facility has been “very well maintained.”

The Geo Group also runs the Aurora Contract Detention Facility, which has a capacity of 1,532 detainees.

Holly Cheng, a nurse who worked at the Aurora facility, told the council Wednesday that the tuberculosis outbreak there is “much worse than what’s being reported,” and that councilmembers can expect increased 911 calls and longer wait times after Hudson’s facility becomes operational.

When asked for comment earlier, Hudson Town Manager Bryce Lange directed The Denver Gazette to a two-page community information update on the detention facility released Monday.

“Town leadership recognizes that residents have strong and deeply personal views about immigration detention facilities,” the update said, noting the federal government — and not the town — is authorizing the contract.

Officials also communicated to residents that the town does not know “several important details,” including the operational timeline, the number of detainees and facility staffing or demand projections.

This is a developing story and will be updated. Denver Gazette reporter Kyla Pearce and The Associated Press contributed to this report.