(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Marv Poulson joins others gathered outside the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City in response to the recent purchase of a warehouse by ICE on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
Utah cannot be a “family friendly” state if we accept an ICE detention facility in our capital city. These facilities have a clear pattern of abuses against women and children, making them radically out of line with the family oriented values we espouse as Utahns.
A U.S. Senate investigation of ICE detention facilities from 2025 to 2026 found 44 credible reports of family separation, 26 credible reports of mistreatment of pregnant women, 40 credible reports of mistreatment of children, and 88 credible reports of physical and sexual abuse. One case involved a mother taken from her breastfeeding infant, whom upon release was unable to resume breastfeeding due to months of separation.
We can’t turn a blind eye to the trauma placed on vulnerable families at these facilities, most of which is impossible to quantify. If the detention center goes through as planned, Salt Lake City will forever be added to a network of places where these family tragedies were facilitated in the midst of our “family friendly community.” How does it reflect on us as a people if minutes away from the capitol building and the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, two places where people constantly voice their support for strengthening families, there is a facility harming women and children in these ways?
I want to live and raise my daughter in a community where our actions match our compassionate rhetoric. As a Latter-day Saint and Utahn who takes pride in my community, I am appalled that Gov. Cox and others want my community to take part in this cruel type of immigration enforcement, which stands in stark contrast to what is purported to be the central tenet of our identity.
Alex Nielsen, Millcreek