On Tuesday, in response to reports that federal officials intended to use a closed hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a detention center for migrants, Rep. David Schweikert wrote to ICE Acting Director Tae D. Johnson expressing concerns and asking tough questions.
Schweikert’s letter follows considerable public outcry over the fact that ICE has chosen the facility, located at 9880 N Scottsdale Rd., for what is described in legal documents as a detention facility.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega took a different approach and admonished residents in an email:
From: David Ortega <scottsdalearchitect@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2021 3:16 PMYesterday morning we were advised in person by ICE, they booked the entire hotel to reunite families privately and move them to airport within 48 hours for “99%” East Coast destinations.
City has no choice in the matter.
Feds say they are recognized, asylum seekers, not illegal border crossers, COVID tested and to be accountable to ICE.Feds control the closed-use property. They are exhausted and have no reason to run now.
“Remember you were once an alien”
Anyone living, working or visiting Scottsdale will be treated with respect and dignity– Mayor David Ortega.
Schweikert wrote:
Dear Acting Director Johnson,
Following recent reports that your agency will be using a closed hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a detention center for migrants, I respectfully request to provide my office with the following information:
Your plan to provide these migrants adequate social services when they are not currently adequate when there are not currently adequate social service organizations in close proximity to this facility;
Your plan to provide proper security for both of facility and respective commercial and residential areas surrounding the facility;
Your plan to manage interactions the migrants held at this facility may have with the surrounding neighbors-including the high school within 100 yards of the facility;
Your plan to indemnify the Scottsdale in Paradise Valley police and fire departments for any cost incurred from providing services to this facility.
If you have any plans in place for any of these, please promptly send them to my office.
I am concerned that this location lacks even the most basic resources needed for a migrant detention facility. I am also concerned about the effect this facility will have on the surrounding community. Finally, and perhaps most troubling, I’m concerned that your agency made a decision to use this facility as a migrant detention center without properly consulting the surrounding community
Before the first migrants arrive at this facility I believe it is imperative to hold public meetings with the community – including neighborhood residents in the vicinity of the facility along with business owners in the area.
If these reports are correct, I am dismayed that your agency made no out reached my office before this decision was taken. Until and tell you have properly consulted with surrounding neighborhoods and business owners, and adequately demonstrate that you have a plan in place to mitigate the effects of this facility on the community. I call on you to put this facility on hold until these most basic requirements are met.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officials issued a statement advising that Texas and Arizona will provide temporary emergency shelters and process families placed in their custody through a short-term contract with Endeavors, a nonprofit organization with with to Biden administration personnel.
On Tuesday, the City of Scottsdale issued the following official statement:
On Friday, May 28, the city was formally notified by U.S. Homeland Security/U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement that a federal contractor would begin operating a temporary hotel facility for immigrant families beginning Saturday, May 29.
According to ICE officials in that meeting, this site is for intact families seeking political asylum who are being processed and taken to transportation as they continue their journey to a sponsor family or organization. The vast majority of people travel outside Arizona after processing.
According to an ICE statement, “The families that come into ICE custody will be housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians. Custody is intended to be short term, generally less than 72 hours, to allow for immigration enforcement processing and establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release while their immigration proceedings continue. All families will be tested for COVID-19 and receive a health assessment at these Emergency Family Staging Centers.”
A hotel has been rented to provide temporary hotel stays to these families during their immigration processing. Scottsdale has no current authority to prevent the hotel from being rented for these immigrant families. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the contractor who will operate the facility have provided assurances that they will be able to address any operational concerns that may arise.
Immigration is a federal matter, over which the city of Scottsdale has no responsibility or oversight. If you have further concerns, please contact your federal government representatives: