Protesters, Arizona leaders gather at old Marana prison slated to become ICE detention facility

Southern Arizona Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was in the Tucson area Tuesday speaking at the site of an old state prison, where an ICE detention center is slated to open.

Grijalva, local leaders and a few dozen protesters gathered outside the gated-off Marana prison complex. Arizona sold the facility for-profit Management & Training Corporation last year for $15 million. And last month, ICE published an agreement outlining plans to make it a 513-bed detention center.

Grijalva told the crowd Arizona is no stranger to the impact of immigration policy.

“For laws like SB 1070, one of the first ‘Show me your Papers’ laws in the county, to the border wall construction on tribal land, we know the direct cost of these policies that tear our immigrant families apart and scapegoat our immigrant communities,” she said.

Last month’s agreement published by ICE was the first time the agency has publicly acknowledged its plans for the facility.

Utah-based Management & Training Corporation is the former operator and owner of the Marana prison and operates detention centers and prisons across the U.S.

“Private, for-profit correctional and detention corporations are based outside of Arizona. They have no contract of agreement with the town of Marana or Pima County. They are not subject to oversight by town, county or state,” said Pima County Supervisor Jenn Allen.

Pima County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in February formally opposing ICE’s plans.