In a statement, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said that “this kind of facility has no place in Salt Lake City.”
Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have filed a lawsuit to stop the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from transforming a massive warehouse into an immigration detention center with capacity for more than 10,000 people.
According to the Utah News Dispatch, local leaders raised concerns ranging from the detention center’s anticipated impact on local water and sewage systems to potential outbreaks of contagious illnesses like measles. Salt Lake City officials also said they would likely need to increase law enforcement presence in the vicinity of the building.
In a statement, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said that 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 that “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.”
Some private citizens, as well as a coalition of non-profit organizations, have raised similar objections.
“In their zeal to purchase and convert the Salt Lake City warehouse into a mega-immigrant-jail, DHS and ICE have run roughshod over federal law and trampled on the interests of the state and the public,” the Utah Refugee Justice League wrote in a pre-litigation letter.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson later responded to a request for comment, noting that the agency is actively reviewing its policies and proposals as former U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) begins his tenure as director.
“As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals,” DHS said.
“As Secretary Mullin said in his confirmation hearing, ‘I will work with the community leaders and make sure that we are delivering for the American people what the president set out,’” the agency said. “‘We want to work with community leaders. We want to be good partners.’”
The Utah News Dispatch notes that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a subsidiary agency of the Department of Homeland Security, purchased the warehouse for nearly $150 million in March. The sale caught the city’s leaders by surprise; Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, also said that he had not been previously informed of the sale.
While the Salt Lake lawsuit claims that the Trump administration overlooked required planning and environmental reviews, the Utah Refugee Justice League said that its planned action will also consider issues of due process for immigrants who may, at some point, find themselves detained in the new detention center.
“There is no way to respect the dignity, the human dignity, of 10,000 men, women, and children crammed into a warehouse jail,” said Brent Ward, a lawyer and former U.S. Attorney for Utah. “By definition, it’s insane. It’s inhumane. It’s contrary to Utah’s values. It is not who we are.”
Sources
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