Responding to local pressure, the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona plans to move the site of a proposed detention facility.

The San Xavier District planned to break ground this summer on a 750-bed, 140,000-square-foot facility just north of the town of Sahuarita. But a new site will be chosen elsewhere on the reservation.

"We took into consideration everyone's comments at this point and we believe placing it on tribal lands with the support of the nation would make the project a reality," Austin Nuñez, the chairman of the district, said in a press release quoted by The Arizona Daily Star.

Local residents were worried about the facility's impact on property values and were concerned about the types of people who would be housed there.

Get the Story:
Detention facility near Sahuarita is ruled out (The Arizona Daily Star 5/22)
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Detention center not going north of Sahuarita (The Sahuarita Sun 5/22)

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