Attorney General Kris Mayes has asked the Department of Homeland Security to provide more details by Tuesday regarding a potential immigration detention center in the City of Surprise.
As of Tuesday at noon, Mayes had not received a response from DHS, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office told AZPM.
In a recent letter to Noem last week, Mayes said the detention facility could place considerable strain on municipal operations, like wastewater management and emergency medical services. The Attorney General also appeared to float the idea of using legal avenues to impede the detention center.
“As Arizona’s top law enforcement officer, I have authority to compel the abatement of activities considered a public nuisance,” Mayes wrote, citing state law.
Under Arizona Revised Statute, the Attorney General — along with city and county attorneys — can take certain actions against operations that are “injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property.”
Potential detention facilities in Surprise, Marana##
Reports of a possible detention center in Surprise drew vehement pushback from residents earlier this month. Republican U.S. Representative Paul Gosar, whose district includes Surprise, was among the lawmakers to voice concerns over the facility to federal officials.
Gosar, a consistent supporter of President Donald Trump's administration, has emphasized that he still supported ICE operations. In a Feb. 4 letter to Noem, he described detention capacity as “an essential component of a functioning immigration system.”
Still, Gosar added: “A detention facility of the reported size raises legitimate and reasonable questions for nearby residents, schools, first responders, and local governments.”
South of Surprise, residents in Marana are continuing to demand that local lawmakers take action against a separate proposed ICE detention center. Pima Resists ICE, a grassroots group, has regularly attended Marana Town Council meetings to condemn the potential facility. In a news release Tuesday, PRICE urged Town Council members to pass a resolution against the detention center to “help demonstrate the broad opposition to the plan.”
