Agreement stalls immigrant detention center in Surprise

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security won’t start converting a warehouse into an immigration detention center in Surprise until an environmental review is completed, according to a new legal agreement between the agency and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. 

Mayes filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in April to stop the conversion of a 418,400-square-foot warehouse into a detention center intended to hold at least 542 people. Mayes, a Democrat who has vocally opposed Trump’s mass deportation campaign, argued that federal law bars the warehouse from being turned into a detention center because it sits across the street from a hazardous chemical facility and accused the federal government of failing to conduct sufficient environmental assessments. 

In a written statement, Mayes celebrated the agreed-upon delay but warned that her office is willing to renew its legal challenge if the environmental review is flawed. 

“This agreement is a significant win for the people of Surprise and for the rule of law,” she wrote. “Federal agencies must complete the environmental review process required by federal law before moving forward with these types of projects.” 

Under the agreement, no one will be detained at the facility and no new construction to turn the warehouse into an immigration detention center will take place until a report about its environmental impact on the surrounding community is completed. Some construction is still allowed, including to install or repair fencing around the warehouse, install security cameras or to renovate office spaces for administrative use. 

To increase detention space, DHS purchased 11 warehouses across the country earlier this year, including the one in Surprise in January. After former Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted, the agency reduced capacity limits for some facilities and later moved to sell or offload seven of them. While the Surprise facility was initially slated to hold up to 1,500 people, that capacity was decreased to 542, with plans to hold as many as 250 people by September. 

Public backlash against the Surprise facility has been overwhelming over the past few months. Residents have packed city council meetings to voice their disapproval, including at one meeting that saw more than 1,000 attendees. Activists are now pushing to disincorporate the city to wrest control from city leaders who’ve proven unwilling to oppose the federal government on the issue. Brent Peak, the co-chair of Northwest Valley Indivisible, which has been an active part of protests, lauded the new legal agreement but called it a temporary reprieve in the effort to ensure the detention center never gets built. 

“This is a real win,” he said. “It is not the end of the fight though, and we’re not walking away until this prison camp is shut down for good.”