Paighten HarkinsThe federal government is looking for co-working space for Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees in Utah, according to paperwork filed last week.
ICE submitted a Request For Information last Friday seeking a year of co-working space in West Valley City, as well as in about 100 other cities in 41 other states and Puerto Rico. The agency already operates a field office in West Valley City.
West Valley City spokesperson Sam Johnson said the city had not received any information from ICE about leasing offices in the city. He said the federal agency would not be required to discuss such a requisition with city officials, and did not know what buildings could suit the agency’s request.
ICE did not reply to The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for more information.
Since Congress approved more than $75 billion in additional funding for ICE last summer via the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, the agency has been spending large sums for its “Detention Reengineering Initiative.”
As part of the initiative, the agency has purchased warehouses and signed contracts for infrastructure to support a system to “effectuate mass deportations,” according to an ICE document shared by municipal officials in Social Circle, Georgia.
ICE’s request for co-working space was filed just several days after the agency spent $145.4 million to purchase a 833,000-square-foot Salt Lake City warehouse that would be converted into a detention facility.
And in January, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, entered into a $10.4 million contract with the Florida-based GEO Transport Inc. to transport detainees in the Salt Lake City area.
If the agency’s plans come to fruition, the Salt Lake City detention center would be part of a network with seven other large facilities to hold tens of thousands of immigrants awaiting civil immigration proceedings and deportation. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall has opposed the facility and took steps this week to deter the project by limiting the site’s water use.
In its new request, ICE is seeking a “flexible workspace,” with private offices and workstations at “approved co-working locations,” according to the filing. It asks that the site have Wi-Fi access and printing privileges.
This sort of request does not mean ICE will occupy office space in West Valley City, just that they are considering it. It is a step meant to solicit information from vendors who could fulfill a government need.
The next step would be filing a Request For Proposal, commonly referred to as an RFP, which asks vendors to pitch themselves for the project.
The locations listed in the contract span across the country — from Honolulu to Miami and from both Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon — and include cities large and small. Other Mountain West cities include Tucson, Arizona; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Savage, Montana; and Casper, Wyoming.
Paighten is an Enterprise reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune. She covers a variety of topics, including business, health, growth and the legal justice system — sometimes all at once. She is from southern Oklahoma, and lived and worked in the state, most recently at the Tulsa World, before starting at The Tribune in October 2017.