Where Things Stand
Surprise City Council regular meeting.
16000 N. Civic Center Plaza, Surprise. Council Chambers.
On May 7, Axios reported that DHS has paused the entire warehouse detention program. A DHS spokesperson confirmed on the record that the warehouse project has been paused and that the department is evaluating how to proceed. None of the 11 warehouses purchased nationwide are functioning as detention facilities. ICE is now in talks to buy existing detention facilities from private prison companies instead. There have also been discussions about selling some of the already-purchased warehouses. The stop work order issued to GardaWorld Federal Services on April 22 remains in effect at the Surprise facility. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes's lawsuit, filed April 24, is pending in federal court.
On May 5, DHS permanently closed the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman, the congressionally created watchdog that investigated detainee deaths, medical care, and misconduct. The office had been reduced from over 100 employees to five. DHS blamed a funding lapse, but the appropriations bill signed into law did not mandate the closure. At least 18 people have died in ICE custody through the first four months of 2026, following 31 deaths in 2025. The agency is dismantling its own oversight infrastructure while simultaneously seeking to open new detention facilities.
On June 1, Project Salt Box reported that the Surprise Fire-Medical fire marshal had confirmed in writing that his department was never given a plan for how the detention center would handle a chemical accident at the Rinchem facility directly across Sweetwater Avenue. Rinchem's own EPA filing models a release of 20,000 pounds of hydrogen chloride that could carry a toxic cloud up to 2.7 miles, across an area where 73,642 people live, taking in the detention site and several schools. On May 29, Northwest Valley Indivisible filed a public safety briefing asking the city to press DHS, ICE, and GardaWorld for answers before the facility opens.
The Surprise City Council has taken no formal action on the facility. No resolution has been introduced. No vote has been taken. On April 21, Councilmember Judd proposed a letter requesting DHS honor local zoning and Luke AFB restrictions. The city attorney intervened publicly when Judd attempted to discuss the contents of the city's legal review. On April 15, Mayor Sartor told KTAR he would not pursue legal action. The mayor holds one of seven votes.
Five Findings
Each of the findings below is documented in a council record, a federal agency statement, a news outlet, or a public filing. Each links to the fuller account on the main site.
On April 22 and again on April 23, DHS issued stop work orders to GardaWorld Federal Services, the contractor on the $313 million retrofit. Federal procurement records describe Modification P00002 as updating the stop work order in effect at the Surprise facility. DHS has not publicly stated a reason. Two days later, on April 24, Attorney General Kris Mayes filed suit in federal court against DHS, ICE, Secretary Mullin, and Acting Director Lyons, alleging violations of NEPA and the Immigration and Nationality Act and centering on the chemical warehouse directly across the street. The complaint also notes that the chemical facility's Risk Management Plan was filed January 1, 2026, three weeks before the ICE facility was announced, and does not account for a mass detention site next door. Of the four state cases now pending against DHS's warehouse detention program, Arizona is the only one in which DHS has produced no environmental review document at all. In the parallel Maryland case, the federal court granted a preliminary injunction on April 15. On May 7, DHS confirmed on the record that the entire warehouse program has been paused.
Read the April 22 and April 24 record →The Surprise City Council has met four times since the facility was announced. On April 7, Judd committed on the record to bringing the facility as a formal action item. On April 21, he proposed a letter instead. On May 5, the council met again with no formal action taken. No resolution has been introduced. No vote has been taken. Other cities have passed formal resolutions, withheld water hookups, and filed lawsuits. Surprise has done none of these.
Read the April 21 and April 7 records →Senators Kelly and Gallego have sent two formal letters to DHS demanding transparency and a halt to Arizona detention expansion. The first, dated February 10, asked for immediate answers about the Surprise warehouse purchase. DHS never responded. The second, dated April 16, set a May 1 deadline for a briefing on plans, funding, procurement decisions, and community impact. That deadline passed. DHS has not responded. The April 16 letter specifically names students at Dysart High School and Dysart Middle School and cites 16 deaths in ICE custody in the first months of 2026. Two formal demands from both of Arizona's U.S. Senators have produced no answer from the Department of Homeland Security.
Read the April 16 letter →Nine weeks after the DC trip (March 15 to 19), none of DHS's verbal commitments are in writing. The 542-bed cap, the facility tour, the school and senior center protections, the community relations board, the $300,000 annual property-tax reimbursement. None of it is enforceable. The AG's complaint makes the same point at the federal level: DHS has not followed required process. On May 5, DHS permanently closed the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman, the only independent oversight body that could have monitored conditions at a facility built on unwritten promises.
Read the full record →Surprise passed a high-water-use ordinance requiring council approval for any facility using more than 100,000 gallons per day. The detention facility could use nearly 270,000 gallons per day at full capacity. The city's highest current user consumes 80,000 gallons per day. The ordinance is a concrete point of local authority the council has not yet exercised.
Read the water analysis →For Your Email to the Council
Councilmember contact forms are at surpriseaz.gov/732/City-Council. A single sentence, copied and pasted into the body of the email, is enough to be counted.
One-line email
“DHS has confirmed it has paused the warehouse detention program. The stop work order at the Surprise facility is still in effect. The AG has sued. I am asking each councilmember to use this moment to formally oppose the facility and to exercise every tool available, including the water ordinance, before any work resumes.”
Three Things You Can Do
- Attend on June 16. 16000 N. Civic Center Plaza, 6:00 PM. Numbers on the floor matter. Submit a Call to the Public form to speak: surpriseaz.portal.civicclerk.com.
- Email every councilmember by name before the meeting. The warehouse program is paused. Ask whether they will formally oppose the facility while momentum is on our side. Ask why no resolution has been introduced. Ask why the water ordinance has not been enforced. Find contacts →
- Sign the 3-Mile Buffer petition and share this page. A Dysart High School student started a petition calling for a federal buffer zone between ICE facilities and schools. Sign at 3milebuffer.com →. Then share this page on Nextdoor, Facebook, or text it to a neighbor.
For the full record, every documented development with primary sources, and the talking points for harder conversations, see the main site. For the letter template addressed to all seven councilmembers, see the letter section.