While some local governments spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars fighting proposed immigrant detention facilities in their neighborhoods, one state is now taking on the legal task for one of its towns.
On Friday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a contested warehouse purchase in the city of Surprise, which documents obtained by Straight Arrow show is slated to hold up to 1,500 detainees.
“The Trump administration has run roughshod over federal law in its rush to expand detention capacity across the country,” Mayes said. “The federal government did not ask the people of Surprise whether they wanted this facility in their backyards.”
The lawsuit aims to block the government from turning the warehouse, purchased in January for roughly $70 million, into a detention center. The state claims the federal government moved forward with plans without conducting environmental reviews, violating the National Environmental Policy Act. The state also says the location is not suitable for housing humans because it sits across from a chemical storage facility.
In a statement to local media outlets, an ICE spokesperson said the lawsuit has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with “trying to stop President [Donald] Trump from making America safe.”
“Prior to purchasing this site, ICE carefully evaluated the use of existing facilities to help minimize environmental impacts, including potential impacts to protected species, sensitive natural resources, and valued cultural resources,” the ICE statement reads.
Caught by surprise
Local officials in Surprise, Arizona, previously told Straight Arrow they were caught by, well, surprise when they first learned of the plans for a 418,000-square-foot warehouse to hold detainees in their city.
City council member Chris Judd told Straight Arrow he first learned the government purchased the warehouse from a reporter after the deal was already done.
“My residents expect transparency from us, and I expect transparency from my elected officials,” Judd said. “They’ve been as untransparent as possible.”
The issue heated up locally in February during city council meetings, when some residents demanded the city push back harder against the federal government, while others pressed for local officials to support ICE’s efforts.
Judd said at the time the only way the facility doesn’t become an immigrant detention center is if the federal government decides against it.
Meanwhile, state representatives were taking an interest in what was happening in the fast-growing Phoenix suburb.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., wrote then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in February asking what consultations the federal government had with local officials before buying the warehouse.
Noem later responded that ICE did not have direct contact before selecting the site because they determined it would have “no detrimental effect” on the community.
The “no detrimental effect” determination has shown up in other facility justifications across the country, according to documents reviewed by Straight Arrow.
In an emailed response to Straight Arrow’s prior reporting on the Surprise facility, DHS said sites “undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase.”
In the lawsuit filed Friday, the state argues the presence of a detention center will strain Surprise’s resources, including water and emergency services.
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