Choctaw Nation Tribal Council Unanimously Rejects ICE Detention Facility in Durant; City Passes Emergency Ordinance Restricting Sales

On January 10, 2026, the Choctaw Nation Tribal Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing any ICE detention facility at the former Big Lots distribution center at 2306 Enterprise Drive in Durant, Oklahoma. The 1.24-million-square-foot warehouse sits approximately 1,073 feet from the Choctaw Nation Child Development Center and within 1,000 feet of Choctaw Nation governmental headquarters. District 12 Councilor Regina Mabray called the proposed site “unacceptably close to the nation’s governmental headquarters.”

The same day, the Durant City Council unanimously passed an emergency ordinance restricting property sales to ICE and requiring a conditional use permit to operate a detention center within city limits. The Tribal Council’s resolution also called on other governments to oppose any approvals linked to an ICE facility there. The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes subsequently adopted its own resolutions opposing detention-facility placement on or near tribal lands and called on DHS to engage in formal government-to-government consultation with tribal nations.

The warehouse was owned by Blue Owl Real Estate Net Lease Property Fund, the same Blue Owl vehicle that held the vacant Tremont, PA warehouse sold to DHS for $119.5 million on January 29, 2026. The Durant site was rumored, never shown, to be an ICE target; the Choctaw Nation announced its purchase of the property in late March 2026 (KXII, March 25; KOSU, March 30). This entry does not establish that a DHS offer, bid or contract for Durant ever existed, so “prevented” is not supported. This is the sharpest documented example of local/sovereign intervention foreclosing a WEXMAC-TITUS transaction before it could close.

Verification block — 2026-10-28 (agent:claude-sonnet-5-5-parallel-tick56-a)

• March 2026 purchase: confirmed as an announcement, not as a deed. KXII (Mar 25, 2026): the Choctaw Nation “announced Wednesday that it has purchased the former Big Lots Facility and adjoining land near the tribe’s Durant headquarters.” KOSU (Mar 30): the Council passed a bill on March 14 approving the purchase; “The amount of money spent … is unclear. The Bryan County Assessor’s Office said it had not received all the paperwork and could not confirm the cost.” No deed date or consideration was found. These two sources are not among the entry’s January sources; add them.
• “Prevented a DHS transaction” is unsupported. KOSU says the facility “had been speculated to be a potential detention center site”; Chief Batton said he “had heard” the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office was in talks with DHS officials. Nothing read shows a DHS offer, bid, solicitation or contract. A FOIA to ICE ERO would be the only way to establish one.
• Tremont figure: WVIA (Feb 2, 2026) reports DHS bought the former Big Lots warehouse in Tremont Twp. “for more than $119.5 million in Jan[uary]”; WNEP and Fox56 (Feb 3) agree it was a January purchase. The exact deed date (the entry’s “January 29”) and consideration type were not read from the Schuylkill County recorder.