Merrillville officials hope a letter denying the existence of a Department of Homeland Security contract on a warehouse in town will calm residents’ nerves about a theoretical immigrant detention center.
Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6, read into the record during Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting a letter from Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Opus Group Vice President and General Counsel Shanna L. Strowbridge. The letter was a reply to a letter Town Attorney Joe Sventanoff wrote to the company last month at the council’s behest about rumors DHS was setting up a processing center at a 278,000-square-foot warehouse at 8719 Mississippi St.
“Opus, its board, and its leadership team earnestly value the relationship our company has with the municipalities and communities we serve. Maintaining those deep connections and our reputation as a world class, responsible real estate developer is one of our highest priorities,” Strowbridge said. “We also understand the reason for your inquiry in the position of the Town Council of the town of Merrillville. As an experienced attorney, we know you will appreciate that there are circumstances in which obligations of confidentiality limit parties in their ability to make public statements.
“While we would very much like to be helpful in our response to your request, any disclosure must comply with our ongoing legal obligation. Nonetheless, we can confirm that we are not under contract, nor are we in active negotiations concerning the sale or lease of our facility at 8719 Mississippi Street, Merrillville … with or involving any federal government agency.”
“Hopefully, this puts this issue to bed,” Svetanoff said. “We can post (the letter) on the website and at this time, again, hopefully we can move on.”
The letter reiterates the position a spokeswoman for Opus gave the Post-Tribune in recent weeks. The spokeswoman, Patty Gibbs, told the Post-Tribune via email that the building is still for lease.
“We can confirm that our Merrillville Industrial building is not under contract, does not have a transaction pending and remains available for sale or lease,” Gibbs said. “Consistent with historical business practices, Opus does not disclose details regarding prospective transactions.”
Additionally, the Town at its January 27 meeting approved a resolution denouncing any sort of detention or processing center. Sventanoff, however, previously told the Post-Tribune that if DHS decides Merrillville is its spot, there’s likely little it can do to stop it.
“I don’t think any municipality wants one of these in their town,” Town Council President Rick Bella, D-5, told the Post-Tribune. “We’ve reached out to DHS and let them know our feelings, and we have zoning for these warehouses that isn’t conducive to what they want, but we are concerned that federal law will overrule anything we have.”
A December 24 Washington Post article said the Trump administration “is seeking contractors to help it overhaul the United States’ immigrant detention system in a plan that includes renovating industrial warehouses to hold more than 80,000 immigrant detainees at a time.” Its plan, based on an unfinalized document the paper obtained, is to “speed up deportations by establishing a deliberate feeder system,” the Post-Tribune previously reported.
“Newly arrested detainees would be booked into processing sites for a few weeks before being funneled into one of seven large-scale warehouses holding 5,000 to 10,000 people each, where they would be staged for deportation,” the Washington Post article said. “The large warehouses would be located close to major logistics hubs in Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Georgia and Missouri. Sixteen smaller warehouses would hold up to 1,500 people each.
“The new facilities will ‘maximize efficiency, minimize costs, shorten processing times, limit lengths of stay, accelerate the removal process and promote the safety, dignity and respect for all in ICE custody,’ the solicitation said. ICE plans to share it with private detention companies this week to gauge interest and refine the plan, according to an internal email reviewed by The Post.”
The revelation, however, came as a complete shock, town officials said, as it also did for downstate officials. But that doesn’t mean the state will fight against it, Svetanoff said.
“With this administration (downstate), they won’t have a problem with it,” he said. “And that will include if a third-party vendor is chosen to operate it.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
