Rep. Adelita Grijalva opposed to ICE reopening Marana prison as detention facility

PHOENIX — Arizona U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva voiced her opposition Tuesday to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) trying to reopen a Marana prison under a planned two-year, sole-source agreement.

“I completely oppose that whole idea because there is a process and a legal system,” Grijalva told reporters at an event in Marana. “And respectfully, people are getting picked up when they walk outside of that legal process. So, this is treating people inhumanely, not honoring our Constitution or following the rule of law by continuing to warehouse people in these kind of facilities.”

In a federal contract notice, which was posted Feb. 25 on SAM.gov, ICE said it needs the 513-bed facility to meet the Trump administration’s “interior enforcement and border decompression goals” and that Management & Training Corp., which purchased the former Arizona State Prison in 2024, is the only source able to meet the requirement within the needed time frame.

The Democratic congresswoman emphasized that Arizona will not be complicit as private companies make billions from government contracts to detain people’s families and neighbors.

“For decades, Arizona has been the epicenter of our nation’s immigration debate,” Grijalva said during her speech at the event. “From laws like SB 1070, one of the first ‘show me your papers’ laws in the country, to the border wall construction on tribal lands, we know the direct cost of these policies that tear families apart and scapegoat our immigrant communities.”

Grijalva also claimed the Trump administration lacks the capacity to treat people humanely and cited 39 people dying in ICE detention facilities in the last year, including Florence detainee Emmanuel Damas, who died of sepsis after being hospitalized with health issues that began as a toothache.

“A toothache should not be a death sentence,” Grijalva said. “We cannot allow policies that dramatically expand detention levels and lead to overcrowded facilities, undermine the medical care and treatment that every human being deserves. And let’s remember very clearly who is being detained in these federal detention facilities. These are not people who have committed a crime. They have committed a civil infraction.”

Rep. Adelita Grijalva says ICE needs to use more humane methods

Grijalva said that more than 90% of people being detained by ICE have committed a civil offense and not a criminal one, suggesting that those people could instead be monitored rather than put in a facility.

“I think that there is a humanitarian way to go about this aside from ripping families apart,” Grijalva said. “I had the opportunity to visit two facilities and the ones that have been reopened, the ones that are popping up in warehouses, they don’t have the capacity to be able to deal with the kinds of needs that are coming up, especially for those people with families, children and our elderly.”

The congresswoman also called what is happening under the administration “an agenda of cruelty.”

Grijalva added that whether you look at the economic or humanitarian impact, detention is not working.

“It is costing us billions of dollars and impacting our economy,” Grijalva said. “And it’s not making our community safer, it’s actually harming.”

She also noted that President Donald Trump replacing Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary will not fix the problems within the department.

“We must dismantle ICE and instead pursue immigration policies grounded in humanity, fairness and due process,” Grijalva said. “That’s why our community is organizing and saying no to these facilities, no to inhumane detention conditions (and) no to putting profit over human dignity.

“Advocates and community members are demanding transparency, accountability and a humane path forward. And I will continue working with them and with your Arizona Democratic delegation to oppose the reopening of this facility and fight for an immigration system that reflects our values.”

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