By Zachery Schmidt
The Arizona State Senate Military Affairs and Border Security Committee advanced Senate Bill 1294, which seeks to provide a prison to the federal government to house illegal immigrants.
SB 1294 passed Monday with a 4 to 3 vote along party lines. It has one more committee stop before going to the state Senate for deliberation.
At the bill’s hearing, Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Scottsdale, the sponsor of SB 1294, said the federal government is increasing its enforcement of immigration laws “at the border and internally.”
SB 1294 says that Arizona will lease the Marana prison to the federal government for $1 a year to house people with immigration violations.
Arizona closed down the Marana prison in 2023. The private prison was built to house 500 male inmates but only averaged 225.
The bill proposal says the lease will be for four years and provides the federal government an option to lease it for an additional two years.
SB 1294 notes that the federal government will maintain the prison for “the full lease in the same or better condition as received at the beginning of the lease.”
The Arizona state government can terminate the lease by giving 12 months’ written notice or if the prison is needed for state inmates.
Kavanagh said this bill would help Arizona financially because the federal government would be responsible for maintaining the prison rather than the state.
Kavanagh added there will be a need for detention facilities to house people adjudicating their immigration status and people with deportation orders.