The federal government has released a procurement order that would significantly increase the number of people held in immigration detention at a facility in Marana, Arizona, where local advocates have warned that expanding capacity could worsen conditions inside custody.
The order, distributed as part of a procurement memo dated Feb. 25, targets a detention center in Marana that had previously been a state prison. State documents cited in the reporting say the facility’s capacity as a prison was 513 people, while the federal procurement order calls for the Marana site to be prepared to hold 775 detainees.
Immigration attorney Daniela Ugaz, who heads the legal research team for Pima Resists I.C.E., said the federal plan would not be ethically workable given how detention conditions and staffing needs can shift when populations increase. She said, “There is no way to raise the population by that amount in an ethical way,” and she added that when immigration detention populations surge, “abuse, devastation, medical neglect resulting in death and safety concerns all rise.”
The procurement memo describes the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement need to expand bed capacity, linking the decision to “interior enforcement and border decompression goals.” It comes after Congress approved $45 billion for immigration detention this summer, a move experts said has expanded the nation’s immigration enforcement capacity.
The federal procurement order names Management and Training Corporation, or MTC, as the company likely to operate the Marana facility for two years, stating: “Management & Training Corporation is the sole owner and operator of the Marana detention facility that meets ICE requirements in the timeframe.”
According to the reporting, MTC owns the building after buying it from the state in 2025. The facility had previously been operated by MTC as a minimum security prison until 2023, and the procurement documents identify the company as meeting ICE requirements under the proposed timeline.
Local groups opposed to the detention center expansion say they are particularly concerned about the conditions inside detention, including access to medical care and legal services. The reporting cites the ACLU’s statement that, despite growth in immigration detention, there are no regulations or enforceable standards covering detention conditions such as medical treatment, mental health care, religious services, transfers, access to telephones, free legal services, and library materials.
MTC, in a statement reported by Arizona Luminaria, said the company has a “long track record” working with local leaders, businesses and residents, and said that if an agreement is finalized its focus would be “restoring good local jobs, supporting the Marana economy, and operating the facility with high standards of safety, professionalism, and dignity.” MTC did not respond to a question from Arizona Luminaria about the facility’s capacity.
The Town of Marana said it is not a party to any agreement between the federal government and MTC, and it told Arizona Luminaria that details have not been finalized. In comments relayed through the report, Vic Hathaway, communications manager with the town, said that although Marana is not involved in the agreement’s terms, it had a “longstanding working relationship” with MTC when the company operated a detention facility at the same location, adding: “At this time, details have not been finalized.”