SALT LAKE CITY – In response to rumors of a proposed federal immigration detention facility in Salt Lake County, Utah’s Democratic lawmakers have launched a preemptive appeal to head-off that possibility.
In a Jan. 26 letter to members of Utah’s congressional delegation, prominent Democrats urged that those lawmakers use their “oversight and appropriations authority to prevent federal funding from being used to expand immigration detention here.”
The Democratic signatories of that letter were Sen. Luz Escamillla, the minority leader in the Utah Senate; Rep. Angela Romero, the House minority leader; Sen. Karen Kwan, the Senate minority whip; Sen. Jan Plumb, assistant Senate whip; Sen. Kathleen Riebe, the minority caucus manager in the Senate; and Sen. Nate Blouin of Millcreek.
Blouin recently authored legislation that would limit immigration enforcement action in Utah, but his proposal was tabled by a 6 to 3 vote in the Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee of the Utah Senate.
The Jan. 26 letter contends that dire consequences would follow if the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were to establish a detention facility in the Salt Lake area.
“We are already seeing these effects in Utah,” the letter argues. “Parents are afraid to seek emergency medical care for their children and medical providers are asking what they should do with children admitted to the hospital if their parents are detained. Families are afraid to attend church. Schools have reported significant drops in attendance because students are afraid to go to class.”
There’s no indication that federal officials are interested in establishing a detention facility in Salt Lake, however.
In mid-January, unconfirmed social media reports indicated that a west-side warehouse in Salt Lake City had been identified as a potential site for a 7,500-bed ICE detention facility.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson reacted immediately to the news by organizing a bipartisan group of business leaders, community members and elected officials who shared her alarm at the proposal.
The building in question is located at 1197 North, 6880 West. It’s owners, Utah real estate developers the Ritchie Group, quickly responded by saying that they had no plans to sell or lease the property to the federal government on Jan. 24.
While saying that he had not been contacted by any federal officials about the property, Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters on Jan. 27 that he was generally supportive of the idea of a ICE detention facility in Utah because transporting detainees to the Las Vegas area was a hardship for federal and local law enforcement personnel.
The Democrats’ Jan. 26 letter was sent to Republican Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis as well as to Representatives Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy, Mike Kennedy and Burgess Owens.
That correspondence stressed Utah’s long history of being welcoming to immigrants and its ongoing billions of dollars of investment in the future of the Salt Lake area.
“A 7,500-bed ICE facility would overshadow that investment, destabilize surrounding communities and permanently alter how Utah is seen by our residents, the national and the world,” they wrote.