Arizona Congress Members Report Shocking Overcrowding at Mesa ICE Facility During Surprise Oversight Visit

Three Arizona U.S. House members made an unannounced visit to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport on Thursday night and reported conditions they called "unacceptable" and "horrifying."

U.S. Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari, and Adelita Grijalva — all Democrats from Arizona — described overcrowding at the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center with detainees lying side by side on concrete floors, cells operating at two to three times capacity, and temperatures that made detainees sweat.

The lawmakers conducted their unannounced oversight visit around 9:30 p.m. on April 9, 2026, and held a news conference outside the facility to share what they witnessed.

"What we saw inside the facility tonight was shocking — overcrowding to a level that was completely unacceptable," Rep. Greg Stanton said during a news conference. "People are being held for multiple days in a facility meant for short-term stays for detainees before their deportation flights. He said the ICE facility was well over capacity, with detainees lying side by side on a concrete floor and more being bused in."

"What we saw was horrifying — crowded cells at 2-3x capacity and busses more of detainees being loaded in. This is Trump's mass deportation machine in action," Stanton posted on social media.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva described the visit as part of their congressional oversight responsibilities and expressed concern for the health and safety of the detainees.

"The overcrowding situation is frightening. And you have people that are sick, people that are sweating, women that need sanitary napkins and were asking me if I could get some for them," Grijalva said in a video posted to social media.

"Just finished a surprise Congressional oversight visit at a temporary ICE holding site in Mesa, AZ. The conditions are absolutely horrific. No human being should be treated this way," she added.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari said she wanted to see how detainees were being treated after receiving reports of overcrowding and a potential hunger strike.

"Through the cracks in the door, they are telling us that it's extremely hot, that they have been there for days when they're not supposed to be in this place for more than 12 hours," Ansari said in a video posted to social media.

Ansari said ICE wouldn't let them talk to anyone in custody, but detainees communicated through the door cracks. She described seeing rooms posted with a capacity of 21 people that were filled with 40 to 50 people "body to body."

"What we saw was shocking and sick. Well over 240 detainees stacked like sardines in cells. People were sick and ICE was being completely inhumane. It's disgusting and we should not be treating people this way," Ansari posted.

The lawmakers said detainees appeared to be sick and were being held in facilities meant for short-term stays. Rep. Grijalva suggested that the people responsible for the conditions should face criminal charges.

"It is illegal, and every single individual that is a part of what's happening here behind us, part of ICE, should be brought up on charges. ICE needs to be abolished. This is inhumane," Grijalva said.

Ansari said it is important for them to continue this kind of oversight and work with municipalities and the county to stop what she described as a health and safety hazard and fire hazard.

"We need to be talking about this issue loudly and exposing ICE and these private prison companies for what is happening inside these facilities," Ansari said. "And I think it is very important, now that I've seen this with my own eyes, for us to work directly with municipalities and the county to do everything possible to stop this. This is a health and safety hazard, fire hazard and so much more."

The Mesa Gateway Airport has been a hub for ICE deportations for years. Avelo Airlines stopped making federal deportation flights from Gateway in January 2026, eight months after the budget carrier started them.

Context of Previous Visits

Earlier this year, Reps. Ansari and Stanton visited the facility and said it had no beds, no private toilets, and no on-site medical care, describing conditions as similar to those in a prison.

The Arizona Mirror reported that when Reps. Stanton and Ansari visited the facility earlier this year, it was one of the few times the facility had been under capacity in more than a month. Just two weeks prior there were 513 people housed there in a single day. And a couple of weeks before that, there were nearly 800 people being housed in the facility.

The Arizona Mirror analysis of ICE detention records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act showed that, in some cases, detainees have stayed for longer than the 12 hours ICE has said the facility is meant for. The facility, which in previous years has stayed below the 157 capacity, has been surging well above that number.

"In the seven days after Ansari and Stanton told ICE they would be visiting the facility — members of Congress are allowed to inspect facilities, but ICE policy requires they give seven days' notice before arriving — the number of detainees began to decrease to some of the lowest numbers the facility had seen all year. Almost immediately after the inspection, those numbers began to climb again," the Arizona Mirror reported.

ICE said that it only uses the facility for the "short-term detention of individuals" and holds them for "typically under 12 hours" and complies with all applicable standards. The agency said AROCC serves as a "transit and staging hub, similar to a layover at a commercial airport."

"Flight delays, cancellations or mechanical issues may occur, and ICE personnel adjust operations to maintain continuity of care and security," ICE said. "Facility population levels fluctuate based on flight schedules and operational needs. During peak arrivals and departures, on-site numbers may temporarily increase, then decrease as flights depart and processing concludes. This is a normal part of operations."

ICE has not commented on Thursday's visit from the three Arizona congress members.

Facility Details

The AROCC facility is a 25,000-square-foot facility at the Mesa-Gateway Airport. It opened in 2010 to little fanfare and can house up to 157 detainees and 79 ICE employees, according to an ICE press release announcing its completion.

The facility is one of many temporary hold facilities across the country, meant to house detainees for short periods of time before they are shipped to longer-term facilities or removed from the country.

"Temporary hold facilities in New York, Los Angeles and Baltimore have come under scrutiny for lacking beds and food, leading to lawsuits against ICE. Similarly, AROCC does not have showers, beds or on-site medical care, according to past audits of the facility," the Arizona Mirror reported.

ICE said that medical care or other needs would fall under the purview of ICE's Florence Service Processing Center, an hour drive away.

Ongoing Letters to DHS

The elected officials each said they have written letters to the Department of Homeland Security asking questions about ICE detainment center issues, and they say that none of them have received responses.

ABC15 crews returned to the scene early Friday morning and saw what appeared to be detainees getting onto a plane before 5 a.m. It is unclear if this was in response to Thursday night's visit from the congress members or routine transportation.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told the Arizona Mirror that these issues are serious.

"We have seen serious problems with overcrowding at ICE field offices around the country," Reichlin-Melnick said. "It really heralded what we would see in the months to follow."