Arizona sues to block planned ICE detention center near chemical hazard site

Arizona is trying to stop the federal government from turning a 418,000-square-foot warehouse in Surprise into an immigration detention center, arguing the site places detainees and nearby residents too close to a chemical hazard zone and was pushed ahead without required safety review.

Attorney General Kris Mayes filed the federal lawsuit on April 24, 2026, naming the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons. The state says the warehouse near Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road was bought by DHS for $70 million on Jan. 23, 2026, and has since been the subject of more than $300 million in retrofit contracts. Officials say the planned facility could hold anywhere from hundreds of detainees to as many as 1,500, even though the building was designed as an industrial distribution warehouse for as many as four commercial tenants, not for people.

The complaint centers on two legal claims: that DHS and ICE failed to conduct or publicly release required environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, and that the detention plan violates the Immigration and Nationality Act’s requirement that immigration detainees be held in “appropriate” locations. State officials say the warehouse sits directly across from a chemical storage facility holding thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals, creating what they describe as a documented chemical hazard zone. They say a spill, fire or tank rupture could trigger a mass-casualty emergency. The state also says the building may lack the water and wastewater infrastructure needed for a facility of that size.

Mayes said the federal government “did not ask the people of Surprise whether they wanted this facility in their backyards” and instead “simply bought a warehouse, handed a $300 million contract to a private company and told the City to deal with it.” Surprise officials said they were unaware of the purchase and had no role in approving it, while city leaders said the federal project could bypass local zoning rules because it is federal. Mayor Kevin Sartor said the city had been taken off guard.

The filing has already stirred protests and pushback from residents and local officials, including state senators Catherine Miranda and Analise Ortiz and Dysart High School student body vice president Cali Overs. It also lands as communities elsewhere resist detention expansion, including Atlanta, where the City Council passed a resolution opposing large-scale immigration detention centers.