Majestic Realty Co., the California-based owner of the Hutchins property, said it would not sell its warehouse to the federal government to be used as a mega migrant detention center.
By Aarón Torres
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
AUSTIN – The owner of a Dallas County warehouse that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had planned to use as a mega detention center said Monday it will not sell or lease the property to the federal government.
“God answered our prayers,” Hutchins Mayor Mario Vasquez said after learning of the company’s decision.
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Internal ICE documents revealed that the agency had wanted to use the warehouse in Hutchins to house up to 9,500 migrants as the agency pushes to fulfill President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Majestic Realty Co., the owner, said the Department of Homeland Security had contacted it to discuss purchasing the property. The California-based company said it has not – and will not – allow the property to be used as a detention facility for migrants.
“We’re grateful for the long-term relationship we have with Mayor Mario Vasquez and the city of Hutchins and look forward to continuing our work to find a buyer or lease tenant that will help drive economic growth,” the company said.
Vasquez said he had told the company that using the warehouse for detention would “devastate” Hutchins.
The Hutchins warehouse was identified as one of four new ICE detention centers in Texas as the agency looks to expand detention space for those who are arrested and awaiting deportation.
DHS has already purchased properties in El Paso and San Antonio as part of the expansion plan.
Sarah Loicano, a spokeswoman for ICE’s Dallas office, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The Rev. Eric Folkerth, a senior pastor at Kessler Park United Methodist Church, said Monday he was thrilled to hear the company rejected ICE’s outreach.
He said he believes that community pressure and outrage likely influenced the decision by the company to not sell the property.
“People are rightly questioning the need for a mega center when, right now, thousands without criminal records are being detained,” Folkerth said.
Aarón is an Austin native who previously covered local government for The Kansas City Star and high school sports for the Knoxville News Sentinel. He is a University of Texas graduate, and Spanish is his first language.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
