The uproar over an immigration detention center planned for a converted warehouse in Surprise continues to mount.
More than 1,000 residents turned out Tuesday at a Surprise City Council meeting to vent their concerns about the 1,500-bed facility.
On Wednesday, Rep. Paul Gosar, a Bullhead City Republican whose district includes the site — and who loves President Donald Trump so much, he has proposed putting him on a $500 bill — wrote a terse letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding “transparency” and coordination with a community that had received none so far.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Bullhead City, chairs a April 2024 hearing of a House Natural Resources subcommittee on the impact of international criminal cartels in Indian Country. (Photo by Ian McKinney/Cronkite News) Residents and city officials learned that DHS bought the 418,400-square-foot warehouse for about $70 million when the Arizona Republic reported the sale Jan. 29, six days after the deal was finalized.
Gosar’s letter made clear that he got no heads-up, either.
“Concerns regarding infrastructure capacity, traffic, emergency services, environmental impacts, and public safety deserve serious consideration. These are not anti-illegal immigration concerns; they are common-sense expectations of transparency, planning, and accountability,” he wrote.
DHS has been buying warehouses nationwide for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as ICE tries to keep up with Trump’s demands for mass deportations.
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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The partial federal government shutdown is poised to move into its second week over the weekend, as Democrats and Republicans disagree over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. -
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is considering using the state’s “public nuisance” law to stop ICE from opening a massive detention facility in Surprise. -
On Tuesday, hundreds of people packed a Surprise City Council meeting to protest new ICE facility. The Show's Sam Dingman documented the meeting. -
Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton says he’s concerned about the recent purchase of a $70 million warehouse by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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A Surprise charter school was on high alert Friday after a threat toward the school was posted on social media.
