**PETITION IN STRONG SUPPORT OF THE ICE DETENTION AND PROCESSING FACILITY
2800 S. Council Road — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma**

We, the undersigned residents of Oklahoma City and the State of Oklahoma, express our full and enthusiastic support for the establishment of the proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and processing facility at 2800 South Council Road in Oklahoma City.

The Department of Homeland Security has proposed renovating an existing 400,000-square-foot warehouse on a 26.8-acre site to serve as a federal immigration processing center. The facility is designed to hold approximately 500 to 1,500 detainees at a time, with holding areas, processing space, medical facilities, and secure perimeter infrastructure. Detainees are expected to remain at the facility for only a few weeks before being transferred to longer-term facilities or deported.

This facility is part of a broader national effort to expand immigration detention and processing capacity and to ensure that federal immigration laws are enforced as written. Oklahoma City is a logical location for such a facility due to its infrastructure, central geography, and access to transportation corridors.

 
ON LOCAL ENFORCEMENT AND OUT-OF-STATE DETAINEES
It is important to note that the presence of this facility does not necessarily mean a dramatic increase in local immigration arrests within Oklahoma City. Processing centers often receive detainees from multiple jurisdictions and states as part of a national system for managing federal immigration cases. Detainees may be transported to Oklahoma City for temporary processing before being moved to other facilities or removed from the country.

This facility therefore serves a regional and national role, not solely a local one.

 
ON THE CITY COUNCIL’S ACTIONS
We reject the Oklahoma City Council’s recommendation that the Department of Homeland Security submit to a special local permitting process. This recommendation is politically motivated and legally unnecessary. Federal agencies have constitutional authority to carry out their lawful duties, and local officials should not attempt to obstruct or delay federal enforcement actions through procedural barriers.

The attempt to impose additional hurdles on this project reflects ideological opposition to enforcement rather than legitimate regulatory concerns. Federal law is the supreme law of the land, and federal agencies do not require permission from local political bodies to perform their duties.

 
WHY THIS FACILITY IS NECESSARY
Immigration laws are meaningless without enforcement. Detention and processing facilities are a necessary and lawful component of immigration enforcement, ensuring that individuals who violate federal immigration law are processed efficiently, humanely, and in accordance with due process.

Failure to enforce the law undermines public confidence in government and erodes respect for legal institutions. Enforcement is not optional, and selective enforcement is not enforcement at all.

 
OUR COMMITMENT
We support the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law. We oppose local political interference designed to frustrate that authority. We affirm our commitment to peaceful, lawful advocacy in support of strict enforcement of federal immigration statutes.

 
OUR MESSAGE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Proceed without delay.
Proceed without apology.

The people of Oklahoma support the enforcement of the law and the establishment of this facility. Oklahoma City should respect federal authority, not obstruct it.