WASHINGTON – Federal efforts to convert a Surprise warehouse to an immigration detention center will be stalled pending an environmental review, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday.
Her office predicted a minimum 9-month delay and characterized the agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security as a major win.
But it’s also confirmation of something many Surprise residents had feared – that
ICE is going ahead with plans to convert this site to a detention center, unlike many other warehouses around the country that it decided to sell just months after buying them.
ICE purchased the 418,400-square-foot warehouse in Surprise for about $70 million in January.
In all, it bought 11 warehouses for just over $1 billion as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda – in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.
(Photo by Gentry Roberts/Cronkite News)
But since Markwayne Mullin took over as DHS secretary in March, the administration has scaled back on its initial plan. According to the New York Times, DHS is now seeking to offload seven of those warehouses by selling them or by giving them to other federal agencies. The government paid $700 million for those sites.
DHS has spun the change of plans as a way to save money and deliver on Trump’s promises faster.
“These heinous criminals, once arrested, should be removed at lightning speed, not housed on American soil at the taxpayer’s expense. DHS is moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners,” the department said in a statement provided to Cronkite News.
In April, Mayes filed a lawsuit against DHS for failing to comply with a review process required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
NEPA requires federal agencies to identify potential environmental, social and economic effects of a proposed project.
Under the deal between Arizona and DHS, the department will complete an environmental assessment or, if necessary, a more thorough Environmental Impact Statement. In the meantime, ICE will not “initiate construction, demolition, retrofitting, or physical changes,” though it can install fencing and security cameras and do other preliminary work.
“This agreement is a significant win for the people of Surprise and for the rule of law,” Mayes said in a statement. “Federal agencies must complete the environmental review process required by federal law before moving forward with these types of projects. My office will keep fighting to ensure the law is followed.”
An EIS typically takes one to four years, according to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, though the process can be as short as a couple of months. Under the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act, completion is generally required within two years.
Mayes’ office told Cronkite News that environmental assessments “take on average 9 months or so.”
The warehouse, located near Sweetwater Drive and Dysart Road, is less than a half-mile from residential neighborhoods and just over a mile from Dysart High School.
Roughly 60% of the students at the school are Hispanic, and some Surprise residents have expressed concern that federal immigration authorities would harass local residents.
Residents and city officials learned that DHS bought the Surprise warehouse six days after the deal was finalized, thanks to reporting by the Arizona Republic.
The revelation triggered a community uproar.
Residents and Dysart school alumni expressed deep concern about what it would mean to have an ICE detainment facility in the neighborhood.
William Coniam, a Marine Corps veteran who is running for a seat on the District Governing Board of Dysart Unified School District, said he has raised the issue of safety with local officials.
“I feel like they should have a formal agenda item to be investigating this issue,” Coniam said. “Our school board has refused to, even though it’s a very clear impact on school safety.”
Coniam is also unhappy with the city’s handling of the proposed detention facility.
On May 5, the City Council wrote Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and asked him to ensure that ICE complies with state law and local zoning ordinances.
Coniam called it a “very, very soft letter. … I think they have a fear that they don’t want to be seen as opposing the current administration. So that’s why they stay quiet.”
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