Two lawsuits hope to stop the federal government from turning a Salt Lake City warehouse into a massive immigration detention facility.
After months of rumors, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, confirmed in March it plans to build a detention center in Utah.
It would house 7,500 to 10,000 people, which is more than twice the size of the Utah State Correctional Facility.
The move has sparked backlash, both from residents opposed to ICE’s operations in the state and from local officials who said the detention center would violate city standards.
Salt Lake City and County filed a lawsuit against ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, claiming the process has been secretive and unlawful.
The suit also cited environmental, economic, public health, and human rights issues.
Uproar Utah, a committee of the Refugee Justice League, plans to file a similar suit. The group stressed that being in the United States unlawfully is a civil offense, not a criminal one.
