MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Days after a private prison company signed a deal to reopen Marana's former state prison as an immigration detention center, advocates say the town still has the power to stop it.
About three dozen advocates and members of the media gathered Tuesday outside the Ed Honea Marana Municipal Complex. There, the group Pima Resists ICE, or PRICE, called on town leaders to use business licensing, permits, zoning and nuisance laws to block the facility or hold its operator accountable.
"Town officials keep telling us Marana isn't a party to that contract, and that's supposedly why they can't do anything. But that's actually exactly why it's not too late," said Daniela Ugaz, an attorney and PRICE member. "ICE can't give MTC a business license or a building permit. Only Marana can."
Management and Training Corporation, or MTC, recently signed a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reopen the shuttered prison on West Silverbell Road. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the contract has a potential value of more than $355 million and calls for up to 775 beds. That's well above the 513-bed capacity the prison had as a state facility. MTC has said the facility could open within 60 days.
MTC ran the prison for Arizona for nearly 30 years before the state closed it in 2023. The company bought the property back from the state last year for $15 million.
Grijalva spoke at the press conference and said local governments have been left to fill an oversight gap.
"Unfortunately, the responsibility of oversight has fallen to local governments because the federal government is not doing our job and are willfully asleep at the wheel," Grijalva said.
While speaking with KGUN, she said Marana should never have been put in this position.
"One of the concerns that I have about the position that Marana is in is that it's a complete failure of our federal government that they're even in this position in the first place," she said.
Grijalva said she plans to make oversight visits to the facility if it opens. "It's a lot closer, so it'll happen more often if it does open," she said.
She also questioned whether the building is ready to reopen after sitting empty for years. "Buildings don't improve when they sit," she said.
Alex Randall worked at the prison under MTC from 2021 to 2022. He says Arizona Department of Corrections investigators documented at least three allegations of staff sexual abuse at the prison during the period covered by a 2023 federal audit. His claims were first reported by LOOKOUT and The Intercept.
KGUN reviewed the 120-page Prison Rape Elimination Act audit, which was conducted Oct. 16-18, 2023, and certified Dec. 1, 2023. It reports zero allegations of sexual abuse or sexual harassment at the facility in the 24 months before the audit. It also found the prison in full compliance with all 45 federal PREA standards.
Randall said he decided to come forward after learning the prison could reopen as an ICE facility.
"I felt like you know knowing about those sexual assaults and not doing anything about it would have made me complicit in it," Randall said.
Randall said he has filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General's Office criminal division.
PRICE members say Marana's own rules give the town leverage. Ugaz said the group's attorneys have sent a letter to the town's development services department questioning whether a for-profit detention center is allowed under the property's zoning.
"That code allows four things on this land: homes, businesses, factories, and nonprofits. Everything else is presumed prohibited," Ugaz said. "A for-profit detention center is none of those things."
The group is also asking the town, the Pima County Attorney's Office and the Arizona Attorney General's Office to determine whether the facility could be a public nuisance. Ugaz cited concerns about lighting, water use, wastewater, traffic and strain on emergency services.
Bennett Burke, a Marana resident and PRICE member, pointed to a section of the town code that allows a business license to be denied or revoked for fraud, misrepresentation or violations of law. He also pointed to past comments from Town Manager Terry Rozema about overseeing the facility. In a statement released ahead of the news conference, PRICE cited Rozema's comment to the Tucson Weekly in February: "If individuals are going to be detained somewhere, our goal would be to ensure that, if it's in our community, there is appropriate oversight and humane treatment."
"So something's rotten here," Burke said. "Either they can do something because he said they're going to exercise oversight, or they can't do something."
PRICE members also planned to speak during the call to the public at Tuesday night's Marana Town Council meeting and ask the council to deny MTC a business license.
MTC has said it will meet or exceed ICE's National Detention Standards and treat detainees with compassion. The company has also said reopening the facility will restore good local jobs to Marana.
The Town of Marana has previously described its past relationship with MTC as "professional and cooperative."
KGUN has reached out to MTC and the Town of Marana for comment on Tuesday's claims and will update this story if they respond.
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Kenny Darr is a reporter for KGUN 9. He joined the team in January 2023. Before arriving in Arizona he was an Anchor and Reporter at KADN in Lafayette, LA. Share your story ideas with Kenny by emailing kenny.darr@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
