Arizona sues to block ICE facility near chemical warehouse

Source: Courthouse News Service

April 24, 2026


SURPRISE, Ariz. (CN) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes sued the federal government Friday to stop the construction of an ICE detention facility just one mile from two public schools and across the street from a hazardous chemical storage facility.

Standing outside the 418,000-square-foot warehouse Friday morning, Mayes said the Department of Homeland Security violated multiple federal laws when it chose the location of a migrant detention and processing facility it says could hold as many as 1,500 detainees at a time.

“The federal government wants to open up a jail inside a documented chemical hazard zone,” the Democrat told a gaggle of reporters in the Arizona heat. “If there is a tank rupture or a chemical spill or a fire, emergency responders will be responding to a potential mass casualty event involving hundreds if not thousands of people who are locked in and cannot get out.”

Mayes pointed to multiple chemical tanker trucks parked alongside the road, blocking access to two different fire hydrants. A neighborhood sits just 300 yards from the same chemical plant. Mayes said the difference is that those homeowners could self-evacuate if an emergency were to occur.

Read more: https://courthousenews.com/arizona-sues-to-block-ice-facility-near-chemical-warehouse/