HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 151

Rep. Markkanen offered the following resolution:

A resolution to urge the federal government to purchase the Ojibway Correctional Facility and turn it into a detention and deportation center for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Whereas, In December 2018, the Michigan Department of Corrections closed the Ojibway Correctional Facility in Marenisco, Michigan. The closure resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs for hardworking Michiganders dedicated to protecting their community. Since 2021, the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget has been attempting to sell the property; and

Whereas, In support of President Donald Trump?s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration, the state of Florida has recently repurposed a little used airport in Miami-Dade County to convert it into a new migrant detention facility ? dubbed ?Alligator Alcatraz.? It is expected that the facility will be able to hold approximately 3,000 detainees, with the possibility of expansion; and

Whereas, Since the beginning of President Trump?s second term in office, arrests made by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Michigan have increased by 154 percent. As the number of arrests continues to rise, so does the need to have more space to hold detainees. The addition of another dedicated federal detention and deportation facility in Michigan would go far in furthering President Trump?s policy goals; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the federal government to purchase the Ojibway Correctional Facility and turn it into a detention and deportation center for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the Acting Director of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.