Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security closed on a 418,400-square-foot warehouse in Surprise for more than $70 million on Jan. 23, county records show.
- ICE acknowledged on Jan. 30 it will add an approximately 1,500-bed processing facility at the site after stating on Jan. 26 it had no new centers to announce.
- The building sits near neighborhoods, schools and commercial areas off Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road, about four miles from City Hall.
- Surprise officials say no federal agency has contacted the city about the building’s intended use, raising local concerns about transparency and planning.
- Reporting describes a broader ICE strategy to expand detention by converting large warehouses nationwide, with protests in multiple cities and some deals withdrawn, and an ICE spokesperson crediting funding from Trump’s spending bill.