Mayes said that the lawsuit is little more than a request to the federal government that it follow its own rules and regulations.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is suing the Trump administration over a plan to turn a warehouse near Surprise into an immigration detention center.
According to the Arizona Mirror, the lawsuit claims that the proposal violates federal law because the site of the detention center is located directly across the street from a facility used to store hazardous chemical waste. Standing in front of the massive warehouse purchased by the Trump administration earlier this year, Mayes warned reporters that its proximity to chemical toxins could end in a “mass casualty” event.
“Let this sink in: the federal government wants to open a jail inside a documented chemical hazard zone,” Mayes said, gesturing toward large tankers with warning labels idling near the facility’s entrance.
Mayes also suggested that the Trump administration failed to request public input on the project.
“The Trump administration has run roughshod over federal law in its rush to expand detention capacity across the country,” Mayes said in a separate statement. “The federal government did not ask the people of Surprise whether they wanted this facility in their backyards. They simply bought a warehouse, handed a $300 million contract to a private company and told the City to deal with it. We will do everything in our power to demand accountability from the federal government and to protect the health and safety of this community.”
The lawsuit claims that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its subsidiary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, failed to conduct environmental reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The proposed detention center also allegedly violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, which requires the federal government to arrange “appropriate” places for the accommodation of detainees.
“Reports indicate that the proposed facility could house anywhere from hundreds to up to 1,500 individuals at any given time. The Surprise Warehouse was built as an industrial distribution facility for up to four commercial tenants — not a space to house hundreds of human beings,” Mayes’ office said. “Because the federal government has conducted no environmental review, the State has no way of knowing how they plan to modify the warehouse for its new purpose. As currently constructed, the Surprise Warehouse almost certainly lacks the water and wastewater infrastructure needed to safely house that many people.”
Mayes said that the lawsuit is little more than a request to the federal government that it follow its own rules and regulations.
“We are asking the federal government to do something that should not be controversial: follow the law,” she said. “Conduct the required environmental reviews, communicate clearly the information from those reviews fand do not open a mass detention facility in a chemical hazard zone.”
Sources
Arizona AG sues Trump over Surprise immigration detention warehouse
Attorney General Mayes Sues to Block Proposed ICE Detention Facility in Surprise
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