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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a contract to convert a building it owns in San Antonio to an immigration facility. The agency bought a warehouse on the East Side, shown here, in January.<\/p>\n
Monte Bach\/San Antonio Exp<\/p>\n
The federal government is moving forward with plans to turn a warehouse on San Antonio\u2019s East Side into an immigrant detention facility,<\/a> even as it cancels such projects around the country.<\/p>\n U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday awarded a $17.3 million contract to security contractor\u00a0GardaWorld Federal Services LLC\u00a0to renovate an agency-owned building for a processing and detention center, according to an award document.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The document doesn\u2019t specify the building\u2019s location, but says the work will take place in the 78217 ZIP code. ICE leases space at office buildings on the city’s Northeast Side for its field office, which oversees the agency\u2019s detention facilities in South Texas, and other functions.<\/p>\n ICE didn\u2019t respond to an inquiry about the project on Friday, and\u00a0GardaWorld referred questions about the contract to the agency.<\/p>\n In January, ICE paid $66.1 million to acquire a vacant, 639,595-square-foot industrial building at 542 S.E. Loop 410 from Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group. The purchase was part of a spree of purchasing and retrofitting warehouses across the country as the agency continued to ramp up arrests and deportations.<\/p>\n ICE plans to use the East Side building to house between 1,000 and 1,500 people per day during their immigration proceedings.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In a June letter to Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, acting ICE chief David Venturella said ICE expects to open the center next winter<\/a> as it tries to secure more space to \u201caddress rising operational tempo and increasing arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n ICE will review designs with local and state officials and \u201cencourages community stakeholders to raise any concerns during forthcoming discussions,\u201d\u00a0Venturella said.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease note, ICE plans to renovate these facilities to safely, securely, and humanely house detainees,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n GardaWorld Federal is an U.S.-based affiliate of Canadian company GardaWorld, which bills itself as the world\u2019s largest privately owned security services company.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n As part of a $38 billion plan to buy and retrofit warehouses for immigration proceedings,\u00a0ICE spent about $1 billion buying 11 properties nationwide this year. But the agency began scaling back its plans this summer amid leadership changes, lawsuits and questions about whether the buildings are suitable for conversion.<\/p>\n It is seeking to unload at least seven of those sites, including properties in Romulus, Mich.; Social Circle and Flowery Branch, Ga.; Hamburg and Tremont, Pa.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Roxbury, N.J., the New York Times reported<\/a>. In early August, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-El Paso) told media outlets the agency plans to sell three warehouses it purchased in El Paso County.<\/p>\n San Antonio officials have tried to stop the East Side facility from being turned into a detention center, citing concerns about substandard conditions at other ICE facilities. They’ve also said the operation could potentially burden the city\u2019s utilities and become a\u00a0deterrent to development in a part of San Antonio that’s seen little economic growth.<\/p>\n But local officials have little power to stop it.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n