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ICE announced last week that it is placing a 1,500-bed detention facility in Surprise.
The Arizona Republic reported earlier that the US Department of Homeland Security paid $70 million in cash on Jan. 23 for the 418,400-square-foot warehouse at 13290 W. Sweetwater Ave.
According to the Republic, as of Jan. 30, the warehouse was mostly empty except for some poster boards inside. It’s unclear when the warehouse will transition to a detention facility.
According to The Guardian, the Trump administration arrested more than 328,000 people from January to December 2025 and deported nearly 327,000. The majority of people in immigration detention do not have a criminal record.
A protest on Saturday reportedly drew out nearly 1,000 people rallying against the facility. The protests will continue weekly on Saturdays, 9-10:30 a.m. Critics of the facility are also planning to attend the Surprise City Council meeting Tuesday night.
I asked what you all thought about the facility, and here’s what you said:
💬 “I don’t agree with anything that ICE is doing and to have a detention center here just means that they are making room for more Arizonans and that sucks. Especially considering that they are not even focusing on criminals at all. They are just going by skin color and that’s just racist. Plus, very often Native Americans are getting picked up because of their skin color and not even being allowed to show their tribal papers. Everything about ICE and this administration SUCKS.” — Debbi F.
💬 “If we stopped arresting children, legal migrants, US citizens, and non-legal border crossers who have lived here peacefully for decades, we certainly would not need a detention center in Surprise…nor the one intended for Marana as well.” — Judy R.
💬 “I voted for this. The Anti ICE protesters don’t have to compete with illegal aliens for housing or jobs. Get them out. Have them return legally.” — Lorelei K.
💬 “While the majority of those being detained may not be hardened criminals, their status of ‘illegal alien’ indicates a crime was committed, civil or criminal. Since the vast, vast majority have not/will not go through the process of gaining citizenship, having a detention or holding facility is appropriate. We should be questioning why there are so many illegal aliens (thanks Biden), rather than harping on the assumed inhumanity of holding these people.” — Clay P.
💬 “I’m angry about it. Instead of doing regular police work to find gang members and criminals they are detaining innocent people whose only crime is that they have brown skin. So many people have been trying to do the right thing by going through the asylum process and they are being rounded up and detained without due process. Unfair and disgraceful. I’m sick of this administration and what they are doing to our country. With all this being said, I do feel people from other countries need to come legally but it seems that when they try they are rounded up like criminals. Right now I’m ashamed of my country.” — Linda P.
💬 “Totally oppose DHS placing a detention center in such a highly family populated neighborhood. There are plenty areas of Maricopa County that are less populated, in open/empty areas that a detention center would have been better suited.” — Lilly M.
💬 “Somehow, adding a privately run concentration camp for the ever increasing number of targets of this administration does not seem like it will help Surprise property values or Arizona’s reputation. — Janet O.
💬 “This is a benefit for our community and state. Increased revenue, more jobs! I have no problem with this facility. ICE is only doing what it is authorized and mandated to do … remove people that have broken the law and are in this country illegally! People should remember that!” — Kerry C.
💬 “I am opposed to a detention center in Surprise which I view a a modern day concentration camp. The treatment of immigrants who are working in our country is cruel and immoral. Use of taxpayer funds for this type of activity is wrong!” — Roy R.
💬 “Many communities have taken the initiative and reversed the decision BEFORE construction could begin. We need to follow their leads, via the courts or any other forms of recourse available. Reveal the ownership of the properties and boycott the companies involved. Investigative journalism has never been more important.” — Patricia M.
💬 “I am furious over all the costs and the procedures used to roundup people, These arrests were made under the premise of getting the gangs and (the bad people) out . It is absolutely not conceivable that 327,000 were the bad guys. Please! Now, another prison for good people who are our friends and neighbors.” — Rebecca H.
