Attorney General Mayes Sues to Block Proposed ICE Detention Facility in Surprise
PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes today sued Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons, ICE, and DHS to block a proposed detention facility in Surprise, AZ.
"The Trump administration has run roughshod over federal law in its rush to expand detention capacity across the country," said Attorney General Mayes. "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 today alleges that DHS and ICE have not conducted or publicized the environmental reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before proceeding with such a facility. The proposed facility also violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which requires the federal government to arrange for "appropriate" places for immigration detention. Given its location in a potential chemical hazard zone, the Surprise facility is not, and will never be, suitable for use as a mass detention facility.
Reports indicate that the proposed facility could house anywhere from hundreds to up to 1,500 individuals at any given time. The Surprise Warehouse was built as an industrial distribution facility for up to four commercial tenants — not a space to house hundreds of human beings. Because the federal government has conducted no environmental review, the State has no way of knowing how they plan to modify the warehouse for its new purpose. As currently constructed, the Surprise Warehouse almost certainly lacks the water and wastewater infrastructure needed to safely house that many people.
Under NEPA, the federal government is required to take at least one of the following steps before moving forward:
- Identify a categorical exclusion,
- Compile an environmental impact statement, or
- Conduct an environmental assessment, resulting in either an environmental impact statement or a formal, public finding of no significant environmental impact.
The defendants did none of the above.
The Surprise Warehouse sits in an area zoned for industrial use — directly across the street from a facility storing thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals. Housing a captive population that close to such a facility poses serious and unacceptable risks. The detention facility would also increase traffic in the area and strain the city and state's ability to provide emergency services, particularly in the event of an incident at the chemical warehouse across the street.
That warehouse also stores chemicals at levels that trigger federal Risk Management Plan requirements under the Clean Air Act. But the warehouse’s Risk Management Plan was filed on January 1, 2026, three weeks before the announcement of the ICE facility. It does not consider the potential hazards made possible by the presence of a mass detention facility next door.
"The Trump administration is not exempt from following the law – placing such a facility in this area is reckless and dangerous," said Attorney General Mayes. "My office will not stand by while the federal government puts this community at risk.”
