Salt Lake City, county, sue feds to stop ICE detention center from coming online
Published at | Updated at
Annie Knox Utah News Dispatch
SALT LAKE CITY (Utah News Dispatch) — Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Monday in an attempt to keep a massive warehouse on the city’s west side from transforming into a detention center that could hold up to 10,000 people.
County and city leaders raised concerns Monday ranging from overtaxed city water and sewer systems to the potential spread of measles, air pollution, and a ramped-up police presence needed at the more than 830,000-square-foot building near the Salt Lake City International Airport.
In a prepared statement, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the city’s residents “are legally entitled to public review and reasoned decision making on major actions by the federal government, and it is my responsibility as Mayor to defend these rights.”
Mendenhall said “this kind of facility has no place in Salt Lake City, not only due to its inhumane nature but also because of our limited water supply, the increased strain on public utilities systems, and the potentially drastic public health and safety impacts it would have on our residents.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bought the warehouse for $145.4 million in March, one of its priciest purchases as it snapped up similar facilities throughout the country. The sale caught the mayors of the Democratic-leaning city and county by surprise, and Utah’s Republican governor said the deal was news to him, too.
It went through just days after the firing of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Her successor, Markwayne Mullin, paused new warehouse deals as the agency scrutinizes contracts from Noem’s tenure. The department hasn’t said exactly what the shift means for the Utah project.
The lawsuit, filed in Utah’s U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, seeks a judge’s order halting the facility’s planned transformation into a detention center. In addition to the department, the suit names Mullin, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its acting director David Venturella. ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
The city and county accused the agencies and their leaders of failing to consult with local officials and engaging in “minimal communication.” They said ICE wrote “TBD” on an application for city utility services asking about anticipated water and sewer needs. The lawsuit contends they violated federal law by dodging the usual planning and environmental review processes.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson called the would-be detention center “a dire threat to the very essence of our community values” in a Monday statement. She and Mendenhall noted the facility would hold at least twice as many people as the nearby Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, which has 3,600 beds.
Salt Lake City Council chair Alejandro Puy, who’s been consulting public officials from other states about how best to fight ICE detention centers, said in a statement that “the impact of this facility poses far too great a threat to our essential water supply, critical infrastructure, and core societal values.”