Communities Fight ICE Detention Centers, But Have Few Tools to Stop Them

Outrage erupted when Oklahoma City residents learned of plans to convert a vacant warehouse into an immigration processing facility — but city leaders received no communication from ICE aside from a mandated historic preservation disclosure. Across the country, communities fighting planned detention centers are discovering they have almost no legal tools to stop federal acquisitions: local zoning laws don't apply to federal property, and congressional notification requirements are limited.