SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed the agency has purchased warehouse in Salt Lake City, and that the building will be used as a detention facility.
In a statement Friday, ICE said the warehouse "will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards."
The agency added that additional information about jobs and infrastructure, but made no mention of how many people would be detained inside the warehouse and when it would be operational.
"Sites will undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase," the statement read.
Department of Homeland Security purchases SLC warehouse for $145 million:
FOX 13 News first reported that the Department of Homeland Security had closed on the warehouse deal earlier this week at a selling price of $145 million. The sale came weeks after an alleged previous attempt to purchase a different warehouse in the city fell through.
The warehouse is located just west of Salt Lake City International Airport.
According to ICE, when the Salt Lake City detention center opens, it will bring nearly 10,000 jobs to northern Utah and "contribute $1.1 billion to GDP."
“These economic benefits don’t even take into account that removing criminals from the streets makes communities safer for business owners and customers," the agency said in its statement. "ICE is targeting criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members and more."
Local leaders, including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, have vowed to fight the detention center in the city.
"This time the obstacles may be greater, but our commitment must be just as strong," said Wilson. "We cannot allow aggressive and often unlawful federal enforcement tactics to take root in our community."
Mendenhall was as succinct as her counterpart in a statement issued Friday morning, adding that she has directed city attorneys to look at legal interventions to stop the warehouse's use as a detention center.
“Let me be clear. A detention center does not belong in our capital city—full stop," Mendenhall stated. "The mass detention of people inside a warehouse is inhumane and is contradictory to the function, values and desires of Salt Lakers, and I will use every tool at the City’s disposal to stop it."
