ICE Announces Plan to Build Detention Center in OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY — The federal government plans to convert a warehouse in South Oklahoma City into a immigration detainment center. Local officials had no say in the matter, and it appears there’s little they can do to prevent the facility from being placed just blocks away from local schools.
The Oklahoma City Planning Department received a letter on Dec. 23 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), informing the city of the federal government’s intention to purchase and occupy a warehouse at 2800 S. Council Road to establish a new Oklahoma City processing center for use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
DHS plans to convert the 26.8-acre site into a 1,500-bed processing center with a “guard shack,” “fencing,” “cafeterias,” “holding and processing spaces,” and “health care spaces.”
State Senator Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City, noted the facility would be located just three blocks away from Western Heights Schools. Hispanic/Latino students account for up to 57% of the student body in the Western Heights Public Schools district.
“The facility is owned by an out-of-state developer with no stake in how this impacts our community,” said Brooks, who is chairman of the Oklahoma Legislative Latino Caucus, an immigration attorney and “a proud lifelong resident of South Oklahoma City.”
“The people most affected by this decision are Oklahomans, but our community has had little transparency and no voice. That is federal overreach at its worst,” Brooks said.
“Let me be clear – this building was not designed to warehouse human beings. It was designed for storage and logistics, not for long-term human confinement,” Brooks continued. “Detaining hundreds of people in close quarters inside a warehouse raises serious concerns about ventilation, sanitation, public health, and safety. There’s a heightened risk of disease, mental health deterioration, violence, and unrest when large numbers of people are confined in unsafe conditions. And we must consider the safety of surrounding neighborhoods, first responders, hospitals, and local infrastructure. This decision does not occur in a vacuum. South OKC will bear the consequences.”
The City of Oklahoma City issued a statement confirming that DHS had sent the city a letter, which is required by federal law, to inform the city of its determination that the proposed facility “does not impact historic property.” However, there are greater issues involved than historic preservation, the city noted.
“The federal law in question does not give the city any opportunity to overrule that determination, but the city may respond with feedback,” reads Oklahoma City’s statement. “City staff is preparing a response… The response will communicate the City’s desire that DHS pursue further City approvals beyond the narrow issue of the project’s impact on historic property. This will include a request for DHS to pursue a special permit, which would typically be required for the siting of a detention facility. Such a requirement already exists in the City of Oklahoma City’s ordinances.”
The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution exempts the federal government from having to abide by local land use and building code regulations, the city noted, and federal law explicitly exempts detention centers from local zoning regulations. The federal government is under no obligation to work with the city to construct the facility, but the city plans to ask, anyway.
“It is the City of Oklahoma City’s longstanding position that decisions about land use are best made locally. The placement of a detention facility is an issue of local interest that would benefit from a public process involving residents, especially the neighbors of such a facility. Any private sector activity would be subject to such a process.
“Though we recognize the legal reality, the City will send feedback to DHS. It will also send a letter to our Congressional representatives requesting their support of a local public approval process,” reads the city’s statement.
Brooks said some are speculating that the site could someday revert to local control and become the site for construction of the new Oklahoma County Jail.
“South Oklahoma City deserves investment, opportunity, and dignity and not to become a dumping ground for facilities that no other community wants,” said Brooks. “Immigration enforcement must be lawful, humane, and accountable… I call for immediate transparency from ICE, full public engagement, and a halt to any development until our community has a real seat at the table. Our neighborhoods are not expendable. Our families are not invisible. And our voices will not be ignored.”