DHS made a ton of unenforceable promises about Surprise ICE facility

On Monday, Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor pulled back the curtain on a subject of intense scrutiny in the West Valley suburb: The massive planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center that is set to go online later this year.

It was first reported in January that the Department of Homeland Security had purchased a 400,000-square-foot warehouse that it planned to convert into a detention center. By then, the purchase had already been finalized, without the city’s knowledge. The news generated vocal pushback, including from some Republicans in the area, and on March 19, Sartor, City Manager Andrea Davis and members of the city council met with federal immigration higher-ups in Washington, D.C., to get some answers.

Sartor held a press conference on Monday to reveal the substance of those talks. DHS made a lot of promises about how the facility will be used and how it will ensure that the surrounding community is not disrupted. But none of those promises are legally enforceable, city officials admit, and activists opposed to the detention center are calling bullshit.

Per Sartor, DHS claimed the facility, which is set to open as soon as June, will top out at 542 beds and that detainees will be there only three to seven days before being transferred to other facilities or to their countries of origin. Sartor also said that DHS told city officials that ICE won’t conduct immigration enforcement activity in schools, churches and community centers near the incoming detention facility.

Sartor said his “primary takeaway” was that DHS is “committed to timely and consistent” communication with the city moving forward, which has “moved from a place of zero communication and information to a position of direct communication and coordination.”

Activists aren’t sure all that communication is worth much.

Internal documents showed that the facility could house up to 10,000 detainees for months at a time, though other documents suggested it would hold 1,500 people. Brent Peak, the co-chair of the Northwest Valley Indivisible activist group, which has been protesting against the facility, called the proposed 542-bed count “laughable.”

“It’s about half the size of other facilities that are slotted to hold 7,000 to 10,000 detainees,” Peak said, “and they want us to believe that they’re only going to hold a few hundred in there.”

According to Sartor, DHS officials also told city officials that ICE’s presence would have “limited visibility in the community” and transportation would occur “discreetly to minimize community impact and disruption.” Additionally, Sartor shared that DHS would provide the facility’s site plans and engineering drawings, host tours with city officials, create a community relations board and maintain “constant communication” with the city, likely through the ICE Deputy Field Office Director in Phoenix, although that individual hasn’t met with city officials yet.

Peak also dismissed the idea that ICE will simply voluntarily ease back on immigration enforcement out of deference to the city.

“The bottom line here is that we don’t trust ICE or DHS,” Peak said. “They are going to put as many people as they can in there. It is a human warehouse, and they want to fill it up.”

There are other details to be worked out. In the March 19 meeting, Surprise officials requested a “cost economy mechanism” for local fire, emergency medical services and police services that ICE may rely on, Sartor said. Those details have yet to be provided. Sartor said he wants to receive a memorandum of understanding between DHS and Surprise to “make sure that what they said in that meeting was followed through for the city of Surprise.” After the press conference, Surprise City Councilmember Johnny Melton agreed, stating he wanted an enforceable promise that ICE and DHS would keep their word, especially to keep out of schools and community centers. 

Of course, wanting such an agreement is an admission that DHS’s promises don’t mean much should the massive federal agency change its mind. It may not matter even if an MOU is struck, as Surprise has few mechanisms with which it can hold the federal government to its end of the bargain.

“An MOU isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” Peak said, adding Florida is still waiting for DHS to reimburse it for costs related to the infamous Alligator Alcatraz detention center. “It’s not a commitment, it’s not a promise, it’s not a law. It’s a promise waiting to be broken.” 

Peak thinks city officials got played by DHS, which wanted to “placate the city council” so ICE could continue its plans for the facility without any significant pushback. Leaders in other cities have successfully halted planned ICE detention centers. Roxbury, New Jersey, joined with the New Jersey attorney general to sue DHS to prevent a similar facility from being opened there. Arizona organizers want Sartor to do the same with Attorney General Kris Mayes, but the mayor appears to view the facility’s presence in Surprise as unstoppable.

“The federal government purchased the land, and whether we want it here or not, they’re here,” Sartor said. As for other cities pushing back, “We don’t know what the outcome of those are,” Sartor said, “so from my perspective, I didn’t want to initiate something that may not come into fruition.”

Peak poked a hole in that argument, noting that no one, including officials in other cities set to host similar facilities, knows what’s going to happen. Surprise can’t just “roll over and take whatever the federal government wants to bring here,” he said. And that includes taking the federal government at its word.

“The moment it becomes inconvenient,” Peak said, “those commitments are gone.”