On March 14th, the Choctaw Nation Council passed a bill to approve the purchase of a 1.2 million square foot facility that was formerly owned by the retail company BigLots. The facility is located very close to the Choctaw Nation headquarters and the city of Durant, which is located on tribal lands.
Officials became concerned because they heard local sheriffs were in talks with DHS officials to purchase the facility and turn it into an ICE detention center. “Choctaw Nation council members sounded the alarm that the facility is ‘unacceptably close to the nation’s governmental headquarters and community-serving facilities, including childcare and elderly services.’”
Both the city and Choctaw Nation headquarters decided to work quickly to pass an ordinance affirming that they did not want the warehouse to be turned into an ICE facility. After growing concern that this would not be enough, the Council approved the purchase of the facility so ICE can’t have it.