Planned ICE detention center tests a community’s capacity on Salt Lake City’s west side 

The first wave of calls to Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla came from Utahns demanding transparency. Why didn’t they know before the sale went through that a giant warehouse on the west side of Salt Lake City was being considered for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center?

The second wave last week came from workers in the industrial area wondering what the change meant for them. Anxious parents also got in touch to make contingency plans. If they get arrested by immigration officers, they asked, could their children call her for help? 

As she started searching for answers, Escamilla, Utah’s top Democrat in the state Senate, had a question, too: “In terms of ratios, how many people are going to be incarcerated in my Senate district?” 

The state prison relocated its northern Utah site to the same area of the city in 2022, with capacity for 3,600. A proposed 1,300-bed homeless campus could follow, with some patients in its custody for the duration of court-ordered treatment. ICE hasn’t said how many people it expects to house in its planned transformation of the warehouse, or how soon it could open. 

Critics of the sale primarily cite humanitarian concerns, but they’re raising issues of capacity, too. Some see the planned detention center as one more burden the government is placing on the city’s west side, rather than its wealthier east side or in another city altogether. 

Escamilla’s Senate district is the state’s most ethnically diverse and the only one where less than half the population is white. More than 40% of residents don’t speak English at home.

“We like to have pride in where we live,” said Daniel Tu’utau, board chair of a community council for Poplar Grove, a neighborhood encompassing the warehouse. “But at the same time, that’s a real concern of this — just being the dumping ground for projects and things that they don’t want to deal with in other parts of Salt Lake City.” 

Tu’utau noted members of the community have previously spoken out against Inland Port Authority development and a tiny home campus for unhoused Utahns, but not in the numbers other communities might see.  

“If you’re working two or three jobs, you don’t have time to show up at meetings and complain about things that are getting built in your neighborhood that you don’t like,” Tu’utau said. But it’s not all negative, he said. Many also cheered a wave of recent public and private investment in the area. 

One splashy development aims to attract a Major League Baseball team. Another project announced last month will bring a new upscale pathway along the Jordan River. The city has installed a series of new pickleball courts and a sprawling playground at Glendale Regional Park, and stepped up cleanups and camping enforcement along the Jordan River. 

The detention center “does not fit here,” Escamilla said. “It doesn’t belong in what we’re trying to do, in this ecosystem of prosperity and thriving.” 

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall agrees. On Tuesday, she laid out the ways the warehouse property isn’t workable for a detention center in an open letter to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. The mayor cited anticipated strain on the city’s police department, sewer system, and on the flow of goods in and out of the inland port. 

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

A Republican state lawmaker whose district encompasses the warehouse, Rep. Matt MacPherson of West Valley City, said he had yet to engage in any deeper discussions about the plan but sees it as beneficial. 

He noted that Utahns detained in immigration cases are often held in a Nevada facility because there’s no dedicated facility in Utah. While ICE has contracts with some Utah jails to hold detainees, MacPherson noted state law restricts how long noncitizens with certain criminal cases may be held in state custody.

“And with the lack of jail/prison capacity already, this is likely a great boost to public safety,” MacPherson said in a text message.

Tu’utau worries the center and an increased ICE presence in Utah could make the state less safe if immigrants are too scared to report crimes and perpetrators are not caught as a result. 

“It’s going to make things worse,” he said. 

As the former mayor of Provo, Utah Sen. John Curtis said he understands the importance of zoning and strategic planning and criticized “back-door negotiations” leading to the deal. 

“The decision to move forward with this facility via back-door negotiations — bypassing input from local leaders — is shortsighted and likely counterproductive to supporting the strategic growth and long-term infrastructure plans of Salt Lake City’s west side,” Curtis, a Republican, said in a Tuesday statement. “Local voices need to be provided a seat at the table, particularly as it relates to community impact studies and evaluations moving forward.”

Salt Lake City council member Alejandro Puy agreed. In a phone call from Washington, D.C., where he was trying to get more insight on the planned detention center, Puy said Curtis and Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, were also working to get answers. 

In the meantime, he said representatives from other states were shedding light on their experiences with ICE and new detention centers.  

“We are learning about how to keep our federal government accountable,” Puy said. 

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE