The Department of Homeland Security sent a letter to Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones clarifying the details of its planned East Side detention center and explaining the actions Immigration and Customs Enforcement will take before opening the facility. The letter comes in response to Jones’ previous messages in February and April requesting the DHS reconsider operating the warehouse as a detention center.
Acting Director David Venturella detailed that the detention center will operate as a processing facility, holding an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 individuals daily. The letter stated that the procurement process for the building is ongoing and that no contract has been awarded. Venturella later clarified that once a contract is awarded to a vendor, ICE will interact with state and local representatives, ensure effective facility operation and collaborate with city authorities and utility service providers to consider design plans and proposed engineering solutions.
Local community leaders previously raised concerns about the lack of studies regarding the detention facility’s effects on the local community and their inhumane conditions. Venturella stated in the letter that ICE is “committed to providing safe, secure, and humane environments for all those in its custody, no matter what type of facility in which they are housed.”
ICE purchased the 640,000 square foot warehouse in early February.
Jones responded to the letter on July 2 reaffirming her opposition to the planned detention center. She asked that ICE confirm the facility has been reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act and welcomed ICE’s planned cooperation with city officials. Jones encouraged the DHS and ICE to consider community and stakeholder input before moving forward with the implementation plan and schedule.
The warehouse is located at 542 SE Loop 410. The detention center is set to open in the second quarter of the Fiscal Year 2027, although no specific date was stated in the letter.
