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Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed a federal lawsuit to block a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Surprise, taking legal action that the Surprise City Council has declined to pursue.
On Friday morning, Mayes announced the lawsuit — her 41st against the Trump administration — to prevent the federal government from converting a 418,000-square-foot warehouse in Surprise into a 542-bed immigration detention center. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security is set to open the facility in the fall, according to Surprise City Manager Andrea Davis.
“The Trump administration has run roughshod over federal law in its rush to expand detention capacity across the country,” Mayes said in a press reelase. “The federal government did not ask the people of Surprise whether they wanted this facility in their backyards. They simply bought a warehouse, handed a $300 million contract to a private company and told the City to deal with it. We will do everything in our power to demand accountability from the federal government and to protect the health and safety of this community.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges that the Department of Homeland Security purchased the warehouse and began to transform it into an ICE detention center without following required environmental reviews. The suit also claims that the proposed facility violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, “which requires the federal government to arrange for ‘appropriate’ places for immigration detention,” Mayes’ release stated.
Mayes first floated the idea of filing a “public nuisance” lawsuit against DHS to block the detention center in a February letter to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Mayes’ lawsuit is similar to one filed in February by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown to prevent the administration from converting a similar warehouse in the northwest corner of the state into a 1,500-bed ICE detention center. Last week, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt the construction and operation of the facility while the case plays out.
Little was known about the facility in West Valley City — situated between El Mirage, Sun City West and Luke Air Force Base — when it was initially reported in January that the federal government had purchased it. Neither the city nor any other local officials were informed in advance, and the news quickly sparked vocal pushback from both Democrats and Republicans. In addition to concerns about a lack of transparency, the warehouse along Sweetwater Road is just across the street from suburban neighborhoods in El Mirage and less than a mile from three schools, including Dysart High School.
Morgan Fischer
Hundreds of community members have attended four Surprise City Council meetings to urge the council to take action to prevent the facility from opening. Despite the pushback, the council has attempted to negotiate and collaborate with DHS officials rather than move to prevent the facility’s opening. Several councilmembers have expressed opposition to the facility, but do not appear to believe the city can do anything to stop it.
“The best way to stop this DHS facility, the only way this DHS facility stops, is if DHS decides not to come,” Councilmember Chris Judd said during Tuesday’s city council meeting. “That’s it.”
In late March, Surprise Mayor 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 about the facility. They came back with a swath of unenforceable promises from DHS.
According to Sartor, the 542-bed facility will hold detainees for only three to seven days before they’re transferred to other facilities or their counties 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, and that Surprise would be reimbursed for city services that ICE may rely on. However, the city has no power to hold DHS to those commitments.
Activists have continued to express their displeasure by protesting at Sartor’s State of the City address and even took over the city’s latest city council meeting. On Tuesday, the city council added an action item to the May 5 meeting agenda to send a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullins, formally requesting that DHS honor state and local ordinances.
Additionally, Davis shared that DHS had scheduled two tours of its Florence facility, which is “similar in operations expected at the Surprise DHS facility,” for council and city management. That’s not exactly encouraging news, considering a detainee held at that facility has already died as a result of an untreated toothache. The Florence detention center has also had a measles outbreak this year.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
