TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Pima County Board of Supervisors moved Tuesday to draft a series of measures aimed at restricting how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, operates within the county and issued a formal expression of opposition to a proposed ICE detention center in the neighboring town of Marana.
In a 4-1 vote during the board’s Tuesday morning session, supervisors agreed to direct county staff to prepare ordinances that would ban ICE from using county-owned properties and prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings while on duty, a policy backers say would increase accountability. The board also passed a resolution opposing the possible establishment of a detention facility in Marana.
Supervisor Jennifer Allen, who represents District 3 and brought forward the measures, said the board has a responsibility to protect the community. “It is essential for us to take a stand as the Board of Supervisors — as the county — that we do not want this as a community,” Allen said during the meeting, as noted in a county news release. “That this is not — warehousing our loved ones, our neighbors, our patients, our employees… is not the solution.”
Supporters of the agenda items, including residents who addressed the board, framed their stance as a defense of civil liberties and a response to longstanding concerns over ICE enforcement practices locally and nationally.
While proponents emphasized community safety and dignity, the lone dissenting vote came from Supervisor Steve Christy, who raised procedural concerns about the potential effects of the mask ban and questioned whether the county should confront federal agents directly.
The resolution opposing the detention center responds to broader anxiety over plans to re-purpose the shuttered Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility — a former state prison — into an ICE detention site under private ownership.
That transition has drawn community protests and official pushback since Management & Training Corporation purchased the site in mid-2025, prompting worries about expanded immigration enforcement in the region.
At the board meeting, Allen reiterated that supervisors were working to protect residents and their neighbors. “I have been struggling to figure out what it is that we can do to stand up, because we have to stand up,” she said.
County officials noted limitations on their authority — Marana’s town government controls local zoning, and Pima County legal staff are exploring other avenues to challenge the detention center through public nuisance or other legal theories.
The ordinances drafted from Tuesday’s votes will return for final approval at the board’s March 3 meeting.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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