Democratic lawmakers from Arizona’s Congressional delegation are asking the Department of Homeland Security to provide more clarity about plans for an ICE detention center in Marana, just outside Tucson.
In a letter to the agency, Reps. Adelita Grijalva, Yassamin Ansari and Greg Stanton say DHS has not provided details about its plans for a facility bought by private, for-profit prison company Management & Training Corporation (MTC) last year.
The 500-bed Marana complex is a decommissioned state prison. Arizona sold it to MTC for some $15 million in July.
But the lawmakers say, despite reporting from multiple outlets that it could be turned into an ICE detention site, ICE itself has not confirmed that.
They’re asking DHS to confirm whether it has entered into or is in the process of entering a contract, agreement or other arrangement with MTC — as well as for communication or coordination it has had with local governments, like the town of Marana and Pima County.
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A congressionally approved federal program has for years provided funding for a handful of legal groups representing immigrant kids in Arizona and elsewhere. The Trump administration moved to end the program last spring. -
Arizona Democrats are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after several cases of measles were confirmed among people in ICE custody in the state. -
The Kino Border Initiative and Loyola University Chicago School of Law filed a report to the United Nations, arguing conditions at U.S. immigration detention centers violate international human rights standards — including those prohibiting torture. -
Top Republican Arizona state lawmakers are lining up with the Department of Homeland Security — and against the Tohono O'odham Nation — over whether the federal agency can build 62 miles of border wall through that reservation. -
Part of a 2024 ballot measure that will create a state-level immigration system is set to take effect on Tuesday.
