Scottsdale residents furious as Biden admin converts hotel into ICE detention center ‘under cover of darkness’

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Scottsdale, Arizona residents are furious over the Biden administration converting a local hotel into an ICE detention center that will house hundreds of illegal immigrants.

Brnovich castigated federal government leaders over the move that positions the facility near schools and a senior living facility. Two hundred angry residents protested Saturday against the development and no public input was requested. The Scottsdale Police Department didn’t even get a say in the matter and were only notified of the decision the day before migrants were transferred.

“The President is using Arizona as an experiment with his reckless border policies,” the attorney general previously said. “I will continue to stand up for Arizonans and do everything I can to stop the Biden Administration’s attempt to abolish ICE. All of us will pay the price, not only with our tax dollars, but also with our national security, and the safety of our families.”

“We shouldn’t be letting them come in the country in the first place,” one protester told AZ Family.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Another had serious questions: “Do we know that they all have sponsors? Do we know that they have a place to go? Do we know that they’re actually going to show up for their court date? Or they’re just released and they’re on their own? Because that worries me for them.”

“Over the Memorial Day Weekend, we were notified about the hotel and the illegals that were moved in under the cover of darkness without any kind of consultation from the local community,” Lisa Seger reported.

“My wife and I drove by last night and sure enough, they have armed guards and we have pictures taken by other homeowners unloading buses with people with backpacks into the facility,” noted resident Geoff Gunsalus. “So we’re concerned that none of us have been put on notice. There was no due process.”

Scottsdale’s Homewood Suite’s upscale neighborhood voted narrowly for Biden in the 2020 presidential election, 51% to 47%. Many now appear to regret that decision as the ICE facility moves in.

ICE doled out $87 million on May 29 to the nonprofit group Endeavors to arrange for temporary housing in the area for up to 1,200 illegal immigrants utilizing the Scottsdale hotel until Sept. 30. The attorney general claims that he received no notice from officials and blasted the pending facility for being “literally adjacent to an apartment complex,” situated near a senior care home, “less than a block from a high school, less than one mile from a preschool, and less than two miles from a middle school.”

“I was extremely disappointed to learn about this through a newspaper report rather than any prior contact from DHS or ICE, even though there are important public safety issues involved in locating any detention center in a community setting,” Brnovich wrote in a letter Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and acting ICE Director Tae Johnson.

6-4 Ariz AG Letter on ICE H… by Fox News

The attorney general was adamant that “detention facilities inherently carry some risk” and that he should not have been blindsided like this. He also pushed back hard against the possibility that some migrants would be released into the community. Brnovich then referred to Biden’s February directive to ICE authorities that orders officials not to arrest certain illegal immigrants who ostensibly do not pose national security or imminent public safety threats.

Brnovich had previously tweeted his statement regarding the hotel conversion but it was ignored: “Today I sent a letter to relevant parties urging them to reject a proposed contract with DHS that converts a Scottsdale hotel into an ICE detention facility for up to 1,200 migrant adults and children.”

Scottsdale was notified last Tuesday by both DHS and Ice “that a federal contractor would begin operating a temporary hotel facility for immigrant families.” Officials claimed that the majority of illegal immigrants would be in the building for less than 72-hour stays. They also stated that leaders had “no current authority to prevent the hotel from being rented.”

ICE claimed that it was prioritizing the “safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians,” allegedly referring to illegal immigrants, not Scottsdale residents.

“The families that come into ICE custody will be housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians,” the agency declared in a statement. “Custody is intended to be short-term, generally less than 72 hours, to allow for immigration enforcement processing and establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release while their immigration proceedings continue. All families will be tested for COVID-19 and receive a health assessment at these Emergency Family Staging Centers.”

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