The city of Surprise now has a webpage to monitor the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility planned for their area.
The page offers a chronicled outline of the actions undertaken by the city and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as the current knowns, unknowns, and courses of action the city may take.
Last month, DHS and ICE entered into an agreement with Attorney General Kris Mayes to pause the conversion of a purchased West Sweetwater Avenue warehouse into a detention facility pending an environmental review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Mayes sued to halt the property conversion in April.
ICE had originally estimated its initial intakes to occur around the end of May.
According to the DHS-Mayes agreement, DHS failed to engage in a proper environmental review. That concession by the federal government appears to conflict with earlier communications DHS had provided to city officials following a March meeting in Washington, D.C.
In those communications, DHS reported that ICE had completed a NEPA analysis in addition to a site history assessment, existing facility condition report, environmental due diligence audit, engineering assessments, and site feasibility assessments.
DHS had initially told Surprise that its warehouse conversion would have a negligible environmental impact and was therefore in compliance with NEPA.
“ICE processing centers share key operational and physical characteristics with industrial facilities, including a similar footprint and traffic patterns. Zoning conformity reports were conducted for all sites,” stated the DHS response. “Based on this analysis, DHS determined that the facility’s functional use remains consistent with the industrial use category and that the acquisition and modification do not introduce significant new environmental impact.”
City of Surprise officials stated that they weren’t made aware of the detention facility prior to the purchase of the warehouse for about $70 million in late January. The Surprise warehouse was one of multiple warehouse purchases across several states for similar conversion plans totaling more than $1 billion.
Mayor Kevin Sartor asked then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in a February letter for more information about the planned detention facility and its potential impacts on the community. DHS staff met with Sartor and other Surprise officials the following month, and provided a four-page response with information on the planned facility.
According to those communications, the facility would contain 500 to 1,500 beds for the temporary intake and transfer of illegal aliens undergoing removal proceedings. DHS estimated that those aliens would remain in the facility for a week or less, and then they would be removed to a larger detention center.
It is unclear when, if ever, the Surprise detention facility will become operational.
After Markwayne Mullin succeeded Noem as secretary of DHS in March, the fate of the Surprise facility and others grew murky. Mullin expressed skepticism of Noem’s approach to immigration enforcement proceedings. The new secretary told The New York Times that he would like “lightning speed” deportations using existing detention space, not additional processing pathways at the expense of taxpayers.
DHS advised in court proceedings earlier this summer that it would offload or sell off seven of the warehouses purchased for more than $700 million collectively, though the Surprise warehouse wasn’t named among them.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating a shooting that targeted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in central Phoenix after individuals fired multiple rounds at the building’s exterior.
According to the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office, the shooting occurred on July 14, 2026, at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations building located at 2035 N. Central Ave., near Central Avenue and Monte Vista Road.
FBI Phoenix Investigates Shooting Incident at Federal ERO Building
Anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in the area of North Central Avenue on Tuesday, July 14, in the afternoon, or who has information regarding this shooting, is urged to contact the FBI: •Call the FBI… pic.twitter.com/NBLoy0hHxF
Authorities said several rounds struck the exterior of the federal immigration facility.
No injuries were reported as a result of the gunfire, and the damage appears to have been limited to the outside of the building.
The FBI has confirmed that one or more unidentified individuals fired the shots. The agency has not announced any arrests or identified any suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Later that same day, protestors gathered outside the ICE facility. However, federal investigators said there is currently no indication that the demonstration was connected to the shooting.
The FBI is asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward as investigators continue working to determine who was responsible.
Federal authorities have not released additional details regarding a possible motive. The FBI said it will continue investigating the incident and provide updates as more information becomes available.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Two years after the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is drawing attention to past remarks by Arizona Democratic congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza in which she questioned the federal government and compared the United States to countries where democracy has collapsed.
Mendoza, a retired Marine running to represent Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District, made the statements during three separate political appearances released online between 2025 and 2026.
The RNC accused Mendoza of contributing to hostile political rhetoric surrounding Trump and connected her comments to the violence directed against him.
“JoAnna Mendoza continues to spew vile conspiracy theories and the extremely divisive rhetoric that have led to three assassination attempts against President Trump,” RNC spokesman Nick Poche said in a statement provided to AZ Free News. “Americans will never forget what happened in Butler, or the Democrats who refused to lower the temperature and tried to tear our nation apart.”
In the first video, released by LD18 Democrats, Mendoza questioned the reliability of federal intelligence while answering a question about the Middle East and Iran.
Mendoza criticized the Biden and Trump administrations’ handling of Israel, Gaza, and Iran before questioning whether the government possessed reliable intelligence about recent actions involving Iran.
“Can we even trust our intelligence agencies right now?” Mendoza asked. “Can we even trust our government to give us the correct information? And I think the answer to that is no.”
Mendoza said she was alarmed by what she described as the Trump administration’s actions in communities across the country and suggested that the nation’s democratic institutions were being eroded.
“It really scares me to think that, you know, what we’re seeing play out right now across our nation in communities, to see what this administration is doing, I never thought that I would see in the homeland,” Mendoza said.
“I never thought that I would see what has transpired happen here,” she continued. “You see it in countries like the ones I’ve been deployed to where democracy does not exist or has fallen.”
Mendoza did not identify a single policy or incident in that portion of the presentation. Rather, she broadly characterized the administration’s conduct as “unprecedented” and said she entered the race because she could no longer remain on the sidelines.
“What we’re seeing is unprecedented, and this is not the norm,” Mendoza said. “I just couldn’t stand by on the sidelines and watch this happen to our country or to its people, to us, to we the people.”
The third clip came from an interview with MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas, who introduced Mendoza during a segment criticizing Trump and Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ06).
During a discussion of border security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Mendoza questioned the training and conduct of ICE agents. Meiselas compared the administration’s practices to propaganda and tactics employed in other countries, and Mendoza agreed with the comparison.
“I know. It’s like we’re living in a third world country,” Mendoza said. “I mean, I’ve been deployed to countries who do not have democracy, who are in authoritarian regimes.”
“I never thought that I would see the government and its federal law enforcement agency turn against the American people,” she added, before alleging a pattern of misconduct involving ICE agents.
The RNC released the clips on July 13, two years after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire during Trump’s campaign rally near Butler.
Trump was wounded in the right ear. Former fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed while protecting his family, and rally attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver were wounded, according to the Secret Service.
The FBI said in a 2024 statement that its investigation found no credible evidence that Crooks worked with co-conspirators. Investigators examined his electronic devices, searches, and online activity but did not determine a definitive motive.
The Associated Press reported that Crooks searched for campaign appearances involving both Trump and then-President Joe Biden and viewed the Butler rally as a “target of opportunity.” Reuters reported that his computer activity reflected a mixture of ideological interests without demonstrating a definitive left- or right-wing motivation.
Trump faced another assassination attempt on Sept. 15, 2024, when Ryan Wesley Routh positioned himself with a rifle near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. A federal jury convicted Routh in September 2025, and he was sentenced in February to life plus 84 months in federal prison. At trial, prosecutors presented a letter in which Routh described the incident as an assassination attempt and offered $150,000 to anyone who would “complete the job.”
Routh’s writings demonstrated explicit hostility toward Trump. The Associated Press previously reported that Routh had urged Iran to assassinate Trump in a self-published book and later wrote that “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”
A federal grand jury has also indicted Cole Tomas Allen on charges including attempting to assassinate Trump during an April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Prosecutors alleged that Allen ran through a security checkpoint carrying a shotgun and fired at a Secret Service officer, striking the officer’s ballistic vest, as he moved toward the ballroom where Trump was located.
Reuters reported that Allen sent relatives a manifesto describing Trump administration officials as prioritized targets. Prosecutors alleged that Allen disagreed politically with Trump and wanted to “fight back” against government policies he considered morally objectionable. Allen pleaded not guilty, and the case remains pending.
Mendoza is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Ciscomani in November.
Mendoza is also facing questions from the RNC about salary payments she has received from her own campaign.
The Mendoza campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The planned opening of a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Arizona has been delayed.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE, and Attorney General Kris Mayes have entered an agreement to pause the conversion of a property in Surprise into an immigration detention center pending an environmental review.
Mayes sued to halt the property conversion in April, claiming DHS and ICE failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The agreement reached on Tuesday acknowledged the Trump administration’s duty to adhere to the former through an environmental analysis, but didn’t address the latter allegation pertaining to the federal government’s duty to arrange for “appropriate” places for immigration detention.
Mayes described the agreement as a “significant win” in a press release issued on Wednesday.
“Federal agencies must complete the environmental review process required by federal law before moving forward with these types of projects,” said Mayes.
This agreement is a significant win for the people of Surprise and for the rule of law. Federal agencies must complete the environmental review process required by federal law before moving forward with these types of projects.
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) July 1, 2026
Similar legal challenges alleging NEPA noncompliance have impacted other immigration detention facility projects in other states: Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey. The Trump administration initially attempted to argue its conversion projects were exempt from the NEPA, but after losing to a challenge in Maryland the administration pivoted on its approach to the Michigan and New Jersey challenges to agree to environmental reviews.
Environmental reviews take typically months, if not years, to complete. However, the Trump administration has recently made a point of expediting environmental reviews in other politically pressing situations.
Last spring, the Department of the Interior announced it would accelerate the review process to be completed in under a month in order to meet the demands of President Donald Trump’s declaration of a National Energy Emergency.
No reports have emerged indicating that the Trump administration plans to undertake similar expediting measures to get the Surprise or other planned immigration detention facilities up and running.
There may not be much of a desire for an expedited turnaround given another recent development.
New leadership within the Trump administration has indicated plans to reverse course on the national buildout of additional detention facilities. ICE announced last month that it would be selling or passing along to other agencies seven of the 11 facilities it had initially purchased to convert into detention facilities. The Surprise facility wasn’t among the seven facilities identified for offloading.
Kristi Noem, former DHS secretary, had directed the facility purchases and guided the conversion plans. The new DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said in a statement to The New York Times that ICE would be prioritizing plans that facilitated the expedited removal of illegal aliens, not prolonged “hous[ing of them] on American soil at the taxpayer’s expense.” Instead, DHS will maximize the use of existing detention space through state and county partners.
At present, ICE has four facilities in Arizona: the Central Arizona Florence Correctional Center in Florence, the Florence Service Processing Center in Florence, the Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, and the San Luis Regional Detention Center in San Luis.
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The principal who went viral in the Valley for barring parents from attending eighth grade graduation due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity played a key role in banning a parent from another school campus in violation of the First Amendment.
This week wasn’t the first time that Bronwyn Sternberg, principal at the Cecil Shamley School in the Tempe Elementary School District (TESD), has kept parents off campus for reportedly political reasons.
In February 2020, Sternberg participated in the ban of a parent, Rebecca Hartzell, from the premises of Marana Unified School District’s Dove Mountain School. Sternberg was an associate principal at the time, and identified in a Supreme Court filing as an official who coordinated Hartzell’s removal. The Arizona District Court ruled in March that district officials had unconstitutionally retaliated against Hartzell for her speech, consistent with a prior finding in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A jury awarded Hartzell $200,000.
Now, a little over six years later, Sternberg has taken another action to keep parents off campus in relation to a highly politicized issue.
On Wednesday, Sternberg informed parents that they wouldn’t be permitted to attend their child’s eighth grade graduation to prevent any additional ICE detainments.
Immigration authorities detained a Cecil Shamley School mother and her son off school property on Tuesday. This prompted Sternberg to call off all outside attendance to the promotion ceremony, which occurred on Thursday.
ICE issued a statement explaining that it arrested the mother, 47-year-old Margoth Del Pilar Paredes-Ortiz of Ecuador, on referral by Border Patrol for suspicion of illegal alien smuggling. Paredes-Ortiz was subject to a removal order from an immigration judge issued last March.
Per ICE, Paredes-Ortiz voluntarily requested that her son, also an illegal alien from Ecuador with a final order of removal, be returned with her to Ecuador.
Federal law requires equal public school access to all children regardless of immigration status.
Paredes-Ortiz and her son were taken to a Texas facility for deportation proceedings.
Sternberg said that closing the graduation ceremony off to parents and other guests was a matter of safety. Sternberg said students from the sixth and seventh grades would be allowed to attend instead, and that parents would receive a recorded video of the promotion ceremony.
“This change may be disappointing for some families; however, we feel it is truly in the best interest of our students and staff. I appreciate the partnership, kind words, and questions that I have received from our parents. Thank you for your cooperation as we prioritize our students,” said Sternberg.
Libs of TikTok shared a copy of the letter to parents in a viral post.
BREAKING: @TempeElementary Principal Bronwyn Sternberg sent a letter to families informing them that parents and guests will NOT be allowed to attend students' graduation after a reported illegal alien parent and her child were arrested by ICE near the school. pic.twitter.com/TGRxTFsqcT
Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton (AZ-04) visited the detained family and indicated he was working to secure their release. Stanton and Arizona’s other elected Democrats have given illegal aliens constituent privileges and prioritized them in their constituent work.
I’m sickened that a Tempe student and their parent were violently detained by ICE and taken to a detention center in Texas just before his 8th grade promotion.
Terrorizing a child, ripping them from their community, and forcing them into detention is beyond cruel. It is inhumane… https://t.co/n7i1jv9J1W
— Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (@RepYassAnsari) May 28, 2026
Shamley School students conducted a walkout from school in protest of the Paredes-Ortiz family’s deportation.
Sternberg became principal of Cecil Shamley School in 2023.
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