Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is discreetly assessing its real estate requirements in downtown Las Vegas, releasing a federal notice to find available parking spaces for lease. This action could hint at potential expansions for the agency.
The public notice, initially reported by The Nevada Independent, emerged in late July on SAM.gov, the official federal portal for contracting and procurement where agencies share Requests for Information (RFIs) and other notices.
Titled “DHS-ICESurgeParking,” the notice does not clarify whether the parking spaces are intended for existing operations or a prospective facility. Currently, ICE has a field office located in downtown Las Vegas at the federal building at 501 S. Las Vegas Blvd., housing its Enforcement and Removal Operators in Suite 200 and the Homeland Security Investigations department in Suite 536.
Thus, the parking request may simply indicate an increased need for parking in that area.
Potential Downtown ICE Detention Center?
Nonetheless, the public notice includes mentions of 13 other U.S. cities seeking three- to five-year leases for contiguous parking spaces in their central business districts. This has raised concerns in Las Vegas that the notice may be an initial move toward establishing a new detention center near the Fremont Street tourist area.
Presently, the closest ICE detention centers are located 16 miles away in Henderson, NV, and 63 miles in Pahrump, NV.
Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom expressed opposition, stating, “We don’t need or want an ICE facility,” as reported by the Independent.
ICE did not respond to inquiries from the news outlet regarding its intentions. However, federal officials stressed that the notice is meant solely for market research and information-gathering and does not serve as a formal solicitation for bids.
Smaller Scale Request
In comparison to states with significant immigrant populations, ICE’s presence in Nevada is relatively limited, reflected in its parking request. The notice in Las Vegas seeks only a fraction, specifically 1/10th of the number of spaces requested in Boston and Englewood, Colorado.
Local officials seemed taken aback by the announcement. A spokesperson for the City of Las Vegas indicated they were unaware of the notice, which was echoed by Segerblom.
This notice coincides with a national increase in enforcement activities. According to The New York Times, ICE executed over 10,000 arrests within a five-day period in June, a stark rise from the approximately 1,000 daily arrests earlier that year.
In Las Vegas, ICE has recorded two known arrests at Harry Reid International Airport in the past month, and a third attempted arrest was interrupted by the intervention of bystanders on July 13.