ICE buys Salt Lake City warehouse, sparking concern an immigrant detention center is coming

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased a warehouse in an industrial section of Salt Lake City for $145.44 million.
ICE didn't immediately respond to a query seeking comment, but critics fear the site will become an immigrant detention center.
Talk emerged last January of a detention center taking shape in Salt Lake City, sparking concern from some.

SALT LAKE CITY — Immigration and Customs Enforcement has bought a warehouse structure in an industrial area on Salt Lake City's west side, reigniting debate about whether the city will become home to an immigrant detention center.

The $145.44 million deal for the building and 24.9-acre parcel it sits on at 6020 W. 300 South was finalized on Wednesday, according to online property records. The property sits just 3-4 miles southeast of another property that had reportedly been eyed earlier this year as a potential ICE detention center.

Officials from the federal immigration agency didn't immediately respond to queries Thursday seeking comment. But the transaction is sparking concern among some who worry about the possibility of an immigrant detention center coming to Salt Lake City.

"I am deeply disturbed to learn that an 833,000-square-foot warehouse near the Salt Lake City airport has reportedly been purchased by the federal government for what would likely become a massive ICE detention facility," Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said in a statement. "This time the obstacles may be greater, but our commitment must be just as strong. We cannot allow aggressive and often unlawful federal enforcement tactics to take root in our community."

Eva Lopez Chavez, a member of the Salt Lake City Council and Democratic hopeful for the 1st District U.S. House seat, called the development "deeply alarming." She asks Utah's congressional delegation to Washington, D.C., to investigate the transaction and provide more details about the plans for the site.

"I will use the full extent of my authority to combat the conversion of such a warehouse into a human-detention facility. I am eager to learn more about this exchange of real estate and prevent any assistance to this facility," Lopez Chavez said in a statement. "It is an abomination that any real estate entity would willingly sell their asset, knowing the consequences of inviting (the Department of Homeland Security) into their backyard. This is an attempt to promote violence — not safety."

The Utah Democratic Party joined the critics. Though what exactly is to come of the facility remains publicly unclear, a statement from the party lauded the contribution of immigrants. "We strongly oppose any effort to use facilities in our city to scale up immigration detention or deportation operations. We call on federal officials to immediately disclose their plans and abandon any proposal that would put Utah communities, and the hardworking families who sustain them, at risk," reads the statement.

When rumors emerged in mid-January of converting a vacant warehouse at 1197 N. 6880 West into a 7,500-bed immigrant detention facility, foes quickly coalesced, demonstrating at the location and later the Salt Lake City offices of the owner of the property, The Ritchie Group. The Ritchie Group later said it didn't plan to sell the land to ICE, though the possibility had emerged on a leaked document circulated among immigrant advocates around the country.

The deed for the transaction says RREEF CPIF 6020 W 300 S is a Delaware limited liability company with offices in Chicago. The registered agent in Utah for RREEF CPIF 6020 W 300 S is Midvale-based CT Corporation System, according to online Utah business records.

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