Surprise Activists File Petition to Disincorporate the City Over Planned ICE Detention Center

The petition that could erase a city

Activists have filed an unprecedented petition to disincorporate the City of Surprise and return its land and assets to Maricopa County. The effort targets the city council, which opponents say has failed to protect residents from a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.

Jeremy Helfgot, a lobbyist and advocate for progressive organizations, submitted the petition Tuesday to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors clerk. If the board approves the petition language, Helfgot has 180 days to gather at least 70,000 signatures to force a vote by the Board of Supervisors.

“It is an uphill climb. We know it’s going to require a lot of work, but it is worth the effort to protect this community if its leaders won’t protect it,” Helfgot said, according to ABC15.

The petition cites the “inability of the City of Surprise’s elected and professional leadership to properly protect the safety and security of our residents” as the primary reason for seeking dissolution, according to the Arizona Mirror. If successful, the board may decide to disincorporate the city or hold an election to give voters a chance to weigh in.

The facility at the center of the fight

The Department of Homeland Security purchased a 418,400-square-foot warehouse in Surprise in January for more than $70 million, according to Maricopa County property records cited by the California Globe. Federal officials confirmed the site would be retrofitted into an immigration detention and processing facility.

The original plan called for up to 1,500 beds. That number was later scaled down to a maximum of 542 occupied beds, according to Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor. Sartor said operations would begin with about 250 people per week and that no one would be released within city limits.

The facility is located near Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road, less than a mile from Dysart High School. The warehouse sits directly across the street from a hazardous chemical storage facility operated by Rinchem, a detail central to a state lawsuit against the project.

The state sues. The feds hire.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a federal lawsuit in April against DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, ICE, and DHS. The suit alleges that DHS failed to conduct required environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act before proceeding with the conversion, according to the California Globe.

Mayes’s office also alleged that the Immigration and Nationality Act requires the federal government to arrange for “appropriate” places for immigration detention. The lawsuit argues that an industrial distribution warehouse is not an appropriate facility and that its proximity to chemical storage creates a public safety hazard.

Despite the legal challenges, a private contractor is moving forward with staffing. GardaWorld Federal Services, the company awarded a $313.4 million contract for the project, has posted more than a dozen full-time job openings tied to the Surprise site, according to the Arizona Republic as reported by the California Globe.

Job postings include:

• Detention officers at $28.81 to $33.90 per hour
• Unarmed site security guards at $19.77 to $24.86 per hour
• Armed site security guards at $28 per hour
• Registered nurses at $46 to $51.09 per hour
• Nurse practitioners at $72.25 per hour

The Arizona Republic reported that GardaWorld described the hiring as “building a pipeline” for roles expected to begin later in 2026. Federal contracting records show a total potential award amount of $704.1 million for the contract, according to USAspending.gov.

A divided city

Hundreds of residents have packed city council meetings and demonstrated outside against the facility. More than 1,000 people filled the hearing room and protested outside at one council meeting in February, according to the Arizona Mirror.

Brittany Bishop, a Surprise resident who has organized protests against the facility, said the petition reflects what the city wants.

“If we let this detention center open, Surprise will forever be known as a city with a human warehouse that holds people against their will,” Bishop said, according to the Arizona Mirror. “The mayor of Surprise is silent on this matter. He is not concerned like the people of Surprise are about the multitudes of issues ICE presents.”

Erika Andiola of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network set up a small fenced pen with a dummy covered in a foil blanket outside the city council chambers to represent immigrants held in detention facilities. She called on the city to push back on the warehouse.

“That’s exactly the type of stories we’re going to see in Surprise, Arizona, if the city council doesn’t stand up to the Trump administration,” Andiola said, according to the Arizona Mirror.

Mayor Sartor has maintained that the city has no legal grounds to block a federal agency from purchasing land. In March, Sartor and four other city officials met with DHS to request reimbursement for lost city revenue and an agreement that enforcement actions would not spill over into nearby schools, according to the Arizona Mirror.

City Manager Andrea Davis told the packed hearing room during the last council meeting before the summer recess that the facility is still in the planning phase. She said the city is working with U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly to create a website that connects residents with federal officials to voice concerns.

“Putting residents in contact with the federal officials, since it is a federal matter, making sure they get that information from them,” Davis said, according to the Arizona Mirror.

What happens next

The disincorporation effort faces a steep threshold. Surprise is home to nearly 173,000 people. The petition needs signatures from two-thirds of registered voters, estimated at around 70,000, within six months to advance.

Helfgot acknowledged that funding sources and signature gathering plans have not yet been secured. Three of the council’s six nonpartisan seats are up for election this year, but incumbents are running for reelection and only one faces a primary challenge, according to the Arizona Mirror.

The facility is expected to open around September, according to ABC15. The legal battle and the signature drive will determine whether Surprise remains an independent city or becomes part of Maricopa County.