In a joint motion to stay filed with the U.S. District Court of Utah, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed it has no intention of using the Salt Lake City warehouse purchased in March as an immigration detention center.
The admission corroborates June reporting from The New York Times that ICE planned to sell or transfer seven of the 11 warehouses it had bought, including Utah’s.
The motion further confirms that the government will instead “designate the Salt Lake Facility as excess property for disposition by the General Services Administration.”
Representatives for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and County Mayor Jenny Wilson declined to comment when asked about the joint filing.
ICE, under new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, is moving away from the idea of an Amazon-inspired model pursued by previous leadership. Warehouses in Michigan, Georgia and Texas have also been tabbed for sale.
Early rumors of a Salt Lake City detention center, and the eventual warehouse purchase, were met with protest.
Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County sued the government in June over the “inhumane nature” of holding 7,500 to 10,000 detainees. The lawsuit also cited environmental, economic and public safety impacts. With that kind of detention population, the municipalities estimated the warehouse would use one to two million gallons of water a day, up from 5,600 in its previous use. They also argued it would worsen Utah’s air quality and measles outbreak.
The largest ICE detention facilities currently hold around 2,000 detainees.
Homeland Security paid a premium for the northwest Salt Lake City warehouse in March of $145 million. The building and land were valued at a combined $97 million.
KUER’s Jim Hill and Hugo Rikard-Bell contributed to this report
