ICE plans Marana detention center expansion
Procurement documents show capacity up to 775 at 500 bed site, private operator MTC set for no bid contract
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A shuttered state prison in Marana, Arizona is expected to reopen soon as a privately-run ICE lockup. Federal contracting documents show the site will exceed intended capacity by 50 percent (Google Maps)
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As the agency's activities intensify under Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, opposition to ICE has emerged across the nation. In Marana, Arizona, a large segment of the local community has come out against plans to open an ICE detention center in their town (AFP via Getty Images)
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Flush with a budget larger than most of the world's militaries, ICE has enough money to outfit its officers with new branded vehicles, as seen here, and to open a blizzard of new detention centers for a tremendous influx of new immigration detainees under Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda (Getty Images)
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Many residents of Marana, Arizona say they don't want an ICE detention center in their town (AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Federal contracting documents show Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to reopen a shuttered Arizona prison as an immigration detention center that can hold up to 775 people—more than 50% above the site’s stated 500-bed design, according to The Independent. The facility is the former Arizona State Prison–Marana, about 20 miles northwest of Tucson, which closed in December 2023 and is now expected to return as a privately run ICE lockup.
The procurement notice says the contract would support ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Phoenix Field Office for two years, providing guards, meals, medical care, and transportation. A performance work statement attached to the notice describes housing “approximately 513 male detainees of all security levels,” but the notice itself specifies capacity “up to 775 detainees.” The documents do not explain how space will be created for the additional 262 people.
ICE signaled it intends to award the contract without competition to Management & Training Corporation (MTC), a Utah-based private corrections firm that built the prison originally and bought it back from Arizona in 2025 after the state closed it for cost reasons. The notice remains active until March 13; MTC told The Independent the contract has not yet been formally awarded and that “no final agreement has been made.” ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
The capacity numbers arrive amid political pressure over transparency. The Independent reports that three Democratic members of Congress—Adelita Grijalva, Greg Stanton, and Yassamin Ansari—sent a letter on February 19 to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Director Todd Lyons seeking details about the plan, criticizing what they called an “unacceptable” lack of information.
The Marana site opened in 1994 as Arizona’s first private prison. Arizona later bought it for $150,000, then closed it a decade later after a cost-benefit analysis found it cheaper to house the state’s shrinking inmate population elsewhere. A Republican state senator introduced a bill last year to lease the prison to the federal government for $1 a year; it failed, and MTC instead purchased the facility.
Running detention above intended capacity is not a paperwork error; it is a staffing plan, a medical plan, a food plan, and a transport plan. The contracting documents treat the overage as a requirement, not a contingency.
The state once closed Marana because it was cheaper to move inmates elsewhere. ICE now wants the same buildings reopened with 275 extra beds that do not officially exist.