ICE signs contract for controversial Marana detention center

Utah-based Management and Training Corporation signed the contract with ICE on Sept. 29 and expects to open the 775-bed facility within 60 days, according to a statement released to the media.

The exact capacity of the facility has been a point of concern in the community, after a June floodplain management report said the facility had the potential to add 600 temporary beds, bringing the total capacity to over 1,300 detainees. A spokesperson for MTC said the capacity would be 775 detainees and would employ 338 full-time employees.

But neither has addressed the Department of Homeland Security’s claims since the floodplain report. Pima Resists ICE, a community group formed against the detention center, called the lack of transparency “typical of both the for-profit prison industry and the current administration of DHS,” in a statement.

Rumors that the facility would be taken over by federal immigration enforcement have been circulating for over a year, since MTC bought the empty facility in July 2025. This year, the detention center also became a defining issue in Marana’s Town Council elections.

The Town of Marana released a statement Wednesday saying they are not involved in the agreement between ICE and MTC. The land is appropriately zoned for correctional use and has operated that way for years, the statement reads.

“As a result, the Town does not have authority over whether the facility is operated as a prison or as an ICE detention center.”

Marana Mayor Jon Post said the town has heard the community’s concerns in a prepared statement.

“We recognize that there are strong opinions within our community and we’ve heard from residents both in support of and in opposition to the center. Marana Police Department remains committed to community safety and will work with all law enforcement partners, including the facility’s operators, to serve that goal," it reads

A spokesperson for MTC said in a statement the company’s focus will be operating the facility safely and “providing compassionate care to the people entrusted to us.”

The contract news comes shortly after a Lookout News article showed the company improperly reported sexual misconduct by guards. Two employees told the outlet that MTC left out three allegations of sexual abuse in the company’s federally required audit. One of these allegations was an alleged sexual relationship between former commissary clerk Alicia Simmons and a prisoner. Under Arizona law, incarcerated people cannot legally give consent, and any sexual relationship between guards and prisoners is considered abuse.

In a statement, a spokesperson for MTC disputed the claims of the Lookout article.

“The allegations against Alicia Simmons were not ignored. The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry — not MTC — fully investigated them, as required by MTC’s contract, and found them to be unsubstantiated. The allegations were also included in MTC’s federally required PREA [Prison Rape Elimination Act] reporting. To protect the privacy of people who report abuse, those reports include overall data, not names or other identifying information,” it reads.

The contract between ICE and MTC was not immediately available, and a spokesperson for MTC did not respond to requests for comment on the amount the company will be paid per detainee.

PRICE said they’ve held protests, written letters, started petitions, and spoken to the Town Council in hopes of formal opposition to the facility, the group wrote in a statement.

“PRICE organizers are disappointed to learn that the contract was signed, but remain undeterred,” it reads.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva criticized ICE detention conditions in a statement Thursday, and said the Department of Homeland Security is rushing to open another facility the surrounding community doesn’t want.

“This time, it’s turning to a private company with a record of overseeing prison conditions including alleged sexual abuse, inadequate food, extreme heat, and prison riots so serious that both Democratic and Republican governors have terminated contracts with them. Now, DHS wants to put this company in charge of a facility that holds up to 775 people in Marana — even though its previous capacity was 513 as a state prison. What could possibly go wrong?” Grijalva said in a news release.

After multiple days of riots at the Kingman state prison in 2015, also under the control of MTC, a report from the Department of Corrections said they were caused by a “culture of disorganization, disengagement and disregard” for state prison policies, the Star previously reported.