Protesters and Arizona lawmakers are calling on the federal government to halt plans to reopen a shuttered Marana facility as an immigration detention center with expanded capacity.

Pima Resist ICE and several local lawmakers gathered outside the site on March 9 after reports that the Department of Homeland Security had issued a "sole-source" contract to private prison contractor Management & Training Corporation for renovations.

Under the plan, DHS has mandated a 50% increase in the facility's capacity, raising questions about how such an expansion could be carried out humanely.

"We know the direct cost of these policies that tear families apart and scapegoat our immigrant community," U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva said during the event. "Let us remember that 90 percent of those in immigration detention are held for civil, not criminal, infractions."

Grijalva called for the dismantling of ICE and said immigration policy should be based on humanity, fairness and due process.

"The land we're standing on, in the midst of all that community, should be used to bring everyone together. To grow and thrive," said Marana resident and Pima Resists ICE founder Kristin Downing. "But instead, MTC, the Marana Town Council and the federal government want to use this space for the business of rounding up and warehousing people for a profit."

Pima County District 3 Supervisor Jennifer Allen also spoke at the event, saying that where ICE agents are present, chaos and violence follow.

Allen and her fellow Pima County supervisors recently passed a resolution opposing the Marana detention center and urged other municipalities to do the same.

"Detention centers and their conditions are unconstitutional, inhumane and dangerous," Allen said.

MTC is one of the largest for-profit prison companies in the world and has faced criticism for failing to follow regulations.

Public reports on MTC's management of the Kingman prison in Arizona found that inmates were underfed and mistreated. The reports also cited staff shortages, inconsistent pay, long hours without overtime compensation and failures to follow Department of Corrections guidelines.

The allegations culminated in inmate hunger strikes and a three-day riot in 2015. After the disturbance was quelled, then-Gov. Doug Ducey ordered the state to take back management of the Kingman prison from MTC.

MTC has also faced accusations of defrauding states where it operates and has been found liable in some cases. In Mississippi, a court found that the company defrauded the state by billing for employees who did not exist.

Despite this history, DHS and the Marana Town Council have decided to move forward with the contract.

Downing said her group is determined to stop the opening of the detention center.

Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com.

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