FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 24, 2026
Contact: media@northwestvalleyindivisible.org
Northwest Valley Indivisible Responds to Attorney General Mayes’ Lawsuit Against ICE Prison Camp
SURPRISE, AZ — Northwest Valley Indivisible today expressed deep gratitude to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for filing suit against the proposed ICE prison camp at 13290 W. Sweetwater Avenue in Surprise. The lawsuit, grounded in the National Environmental Policy Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act, addresses concerns that Northwest Valley Indivisible and community members have been raising for months.
The facility sits adjacent to one of Arizona’s most significant chemical storage sites. The toxic materials stored there pose grave risks to anyone in the surrounding area — including thousands of people who, if imprisoned here, would have no ability to self-evacuate in an emergency. Northwest Valley Indivisible raised this concern with the Attorney General’s office weeks ago.
This morning, as Attorney General Mayes stood at the facility to make her announcement, two chemical tanker trucks were parked blocking both fire hydrants serving the site. [PHOTO] The hazard our community has been warning about was visible in real time, in plain sight, during a press conference called to address it.
Meanwhile, the Mayor and City Council of Surprise are actively negotiating the terms under which this prison camp will open. Their central ask: that the people caged inside not be from Surprise. The thousands of Arizonans who would be imprisoned here are someone’s neighbors, someone’s family — and the City Council of Surprise has made clear that their welfare is someone else’s problem.
Dysart High School Student Body Vice-President Cali Overs has helped lead a student-driven petition that has brought young voices to the forefront of this fight and spoke at the press conference. As Overs put it: “By placing this detention center within our path to school, DHS is creating unnecessary risk for thousands of children. It is reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous.”
Northwest Valley Indivisible is calling on the Surprise City Council to publicly support Attorney General Mayes’ lawsuit and to explore every available avenue to stand alongside her — whether through formal resolution, amicus participation, or other legal mechanisms. The council has spent months negotiating with the federal government over the terms of this prison camp’s opening. It is time to stop negotiating and start fighting. The Attorney General has shown them how.
Northwest Valley Indivisible has been organizing against this prison camp for months. We are grateful that the Attorney General is standing with us and with all Arizonans.
Tomorrow evening, Northwest Valley Indivisible and coalition partners will gather at the facility itself — 13290 W. Sweetwater Avenue in Surprise — as part of a national day of action organized under the Communities Not Cages campaign. Hundreds of community members are expected at 5:30 PM to make clear that Arizona will not quietly accept a prison camp in its backyard. Attorney General Mayes has filed her lawsuit. The city council has a choice to make. And the people of this community will be standing at the gate to make sure everyone knows where they stand.
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