MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — As the possibility of the former prison in Marana becoming an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center continues to be on the minds of some residents, a community forum, moderated by Pima County Supervisor Jennifer Allen, was held Thursday evening.
Management and Training Cooperation previously owned the prison from the mid-90s until 2013. Fast forward to this year, MTC owns the facility once again after purchasing it from the state for $15 million.
READ MORE HERE | IN DEPTH: The future of the Marana prison; town hall scheduled for next week
In May, a spokesperson with MTC told KGUN 9 that the facility would be used for detention purposes. In October, an MTC spokesperson told KGUN 9 they are still exploring opportunities with several public agencies and don’t have additional information to share.
As its exact future use remains a question, hundreds of people attended Thursday’s community forum. Everyone in attendance appeared to be opposed to a potential ICE detention center in the town.
Veteran Stevie Rendino said she can’t believe what is going on in the country.
“I fought for freedom or so they told me, and now here I am having to protest a secret police,” she said.
She and Marana resident, Bennett Burke, shared similar feelings when they found out about the possible use of the facility near Sanders and Silverbell.
“Absolute disgust,” Rendino said.
“Outrage, I’m outraged at all of this,” Burke said.
While hundreds were in opposition at Thursday’s event, KGUN 9 recently spoke to Republican State Senator John Kavanagh, who is in support of it being used as an ICE detention facility.
“While they’re being processed, we don’t want to overcrowd them in office jail cells or local jails – let’s have a nice facility and they can get their due process, or they can wait for their flight out there,” he said.
Early this year, Sen. Kavanagh proposed Senate Bill 1294, which would have allowed the state to lease the facility to ICE for $1 a year. The bill failed in the House.
MORE DETAILS | State Senator wants to allow ICE to lease currently closed Marana prison
According to MTC’s website, their worldwide operations include:
- 13 Job Corps centers
- 10 correctional facilities
- 11 prison and detention medical departments
- 3 community release centers
- 14 detention centers
- 13 treatment programs
- 2 outpatient behavioral health programs
According to their website, they currently operate five ICE facilities - one in California, one in New Mexico, and three in Texas.
Back at the forum, community members discussed how they can band together to show their opposition to having one in one of our neighborhoods.
The forum had the following panelists:
- Immigration Attorney - Mo Goldman
- ACLU of Arizona - Noah Schramm
- Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project - Liz Casey
- Just Communities Arizona - Caroline Isaacs
The panelists took questions from the public and spoke on what they believe the impact of an ICE detention center could be on our community.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
