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Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025

Was a Marana prison sold to a private company that runs ICE facilities?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

In July 2025, Arizona sold a former Marana prison to Management & Training Corporation (MTC). The company operates job corps centers and correctional facilities nationwide, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.

The Marana prison closed in late 2023. Though MTC has not publicly confirmed its plans for the site, a Marana official said the company previously indicated the facility may reopen as an ICE detention center.

MTC operated a prison in Kingman until 2015, when the state canceled its contract following an investigation that found the company failed to properly train staff, maintain security systems and quell riots. State officials said the unrest was “likely precipitated by inmate dissatisfaction with MTC’s operation of the prison.”

The facility’s possible use as an ICE detention center comes amid reduced federal oversight. In March 2025, the Department of Homeland Security eliminated offices that investigated civil rights violations and immigration-related complaints.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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