On December 23, 2025, a letter addressed to the Oklahoma City Planning Department was received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The letter stated the Department’s intention to purchase and occupy a warehouse at 2800 S. Council Road to establish a “new Oklahoma City processing center” for use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Elements of the project mentioned in the letter include a “guard shack,” “fencing,” “cafeterias,” “holding and processing spaces,” and “health care spaces.”
The letter was sent under a federal law that requires DHS to inform the local government of its determination on whether the project impacts historic property. In the letter, DHS communicated that the project does not impact historic property.
The federal law in question does not give the City any opportunity to overrule that determination, but the City may respond with feedback. City staff is preparing a response. City staff have found no evidence of an impact on historic property, but the response will communicate the City’s desire that DHS pursue further City approvals beyond the narrow issue of the project’s impact on historic property. This will include a request for DHS to pursue a special permit, which would typically be required for the siting of a detention facility. Such a requirement already exists in the City of Oklahoma City’s ordinances.
The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution has been construed to exempt the federal government from local land use and building code regulations. As such, federal government entities historically have not sought the zoning approval of the City of Oklahoma City for projects at Tinker Air Force Base, the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center or any other federal property. Further, federal law explicitly exempts detention centers from local zoning regulations.
The City of Oklahoma City’s Municipal Counselors have reviewed recent ordinances passed in Durant, Oklahoma and Kansas City, Missouri. The ordinance passed in Durant essentially already exists in Oklahoma City. The action in Kansas City was a broader moratorium on approvals of non-municipal detention facilities. Though Oklahoma City Municipal Counselors would never advise other municipalities, their advice to Oklahoma City’s policymakers is that such actions are not likely to legally restrict the federal government’s ability to proceed due to the Supremacy Clause.
It is the City of Oklahoma City’s longstanding position that decisions about land use are best made locally. The placement of a detention facility is an issue of local interest that would benefit from a public process involving residents, especially the neighbors of such a facility. Any private sector activity would be subject to such a process.
Though we recognize the legal reality, the City will send feedback to DHS. It will also send a letter to our Congressional representatives requesting their support of a local public approval process.