Surprise, AZ Immigration Lawsuit: Environmental Stop-Work Order

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a federal lawsuit on April 24, 2026, seeking to block the Trump administration from converting a Surprise, Arizona warehouse into an ICE detention center, and the Surprise AZ ICE detention lawsuit is now paired with a federal stop work order that has halted construction at the site. The complaint, Arizona v. Mullin, argues that the Department of Homeland Security skipped environmental review required by federal law and picked a location directly across the street from a hazardous chemical storage facility.¹

What the Federal Government Planned to Build

ICE bought a 418,400-square-foot warehouse near Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road in Surprise for roughly $70 million in cash at the end of January 2026. The federal government then awarded a $313 million contract to GardaWorld Federal Services to retrofit the building into a detention facility.²³

Early planning documents put capacity at up to 1,500 detainees. After meeting with federal officials, Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor reported the number had been reduced to about 550 beds, with people held no more than a week before transfer to larger centers in Texas or Utah.⁴ DHS planned to have the facility operational by fall 2026, with roughly 250 people housed by September.⁵

The building was originally designed for industrial distribution, not human occupancy. The state’s complaint says it likely lacks the water and wastewater capacity to support hundreds of residents.¹

What the Lawsuit Argues

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (Case No. 2:26-cv-02857-SMB). The defendants, sued in their official capacities, are DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, ICE, and DHS.⁶

Arizona asks the court to permanently block the facility from operating. The lawsuit rests on three federal statutes.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, federal agencies must evaluate the environmental consequences of major actions before proceeding. The state alleges DHS never prepared an environmental impact statement, never prepared an environmental assessment, and never even identified a categorical exclusion before buying the warehouse and beginning to retrofit it.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the federal government must arrange for “appropriate” places of detention and consider whether existing facilities could serve the purpose before building new ones. The complaint argues that a warehouse sitting across the street from a facility storing thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals, in an area without adequate water and sewer capacity, is not appropriate.

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the state contends that because those actions violate NEPA and the INA, the entire decision to site the facility in Surprise was arbitrary and capricious.

The chemical hazard argument runs through the complaint. The neighboring facility filed a Risk Management Plan on January 1, 2026 that does not account for the presence of a mass detention center across the street. Mayes has described the scenario as a potential “mass casualty” situation, with hundreds of people locked inside a building with limited exits next to an industrial site where a spill or fire could be catastrophic.⁷

Mayes had considered using Arizona’s public nuisance statutes but chose to rely on federal law to avoid a Supremacy Clause challenge.²

The Stop Work Order That Halted Construction

Two days before Mayes filed suit, the federal government issued a stop work order on the $313 million GardaWorld contract. The order was signed on April 22, 2026, with a modification signed the following day, according to entries in USAspending.gov.⁸ No official reason has been given. ICE has not commented publicly, and the federal database does not list one.⁹

Whether the pause was ordered in anticipation of litigation, at the Justice Department’s direction, or for an internal administrative reason is unclear. Renovation work has not resumed.¹⁰

Where the Case Stands

As of mid-2026, Arizona v. Mullin is at the initial complaint stage. No preliminary injunction, hearing date, or ruling has been publicly announced. The stop work order remains in effect and no renovation activity has resumed at the warehouse. Verbal commitments DHS made to city officials about bed caps and operational standards have not been put in writing.¹⁰

DHS has said it performs “due diligence” to minimize negative environmental impacts and has characterized the lawsuit as an effort to obstruct federal immigration enforcement.²

Why the Environmental Argument Has Teeth

Similar warehouse conversion projects have already been slowed by courts, and those rulings shape what to expect in Arizona.

In Maryland, Attorney General Anthony Brown sued DHS over a planned detention center in an 825,000-square-foot warehouse near Williamsport that the agency purchased for $102.4 million. On April 15, 2026, U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the conversion while the case proceeds, finding the project was “rushed” and potentially “environmentally damaging,” and citing concerns about inadequate sewage infrastructure and the risk of raw sewage reaching protected waterways.¹¹¹² Arizona’s complaint cites the Maryland ruling.⁵

In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel and the City of Romulus filed suit on March 24, 2026, challenging a proposed 500-bed facility at a warehouse ICE purchased for about $34.7 million. That complaint raises similar NEPA and APA claims and adds site-specific concerns: the property sits in a floodplain, abuts a state-protected wetland, and is near two public schools. The city alleges the warehouse has only six bathrooms and a sewer line too small for the intended population.¹³

ICE initially argued that warehouse conversions were exempt from NEPA review under categorical exclusions. After Judge Hurson’s ruling, the agency began changing course. DHS agreed to conduct NEPA reviews for proposed facilities in New Jersey and Maryland, and a similar agreement appeared imminent for the Michigan site.¹⁴ Justice Department officials reportedly concluded internally that the categorical exclusion strategy left the government too exposed to legal challenge.¹⁵

Whether the shift will apply to Surprise is not yet clear. No NEPA review has been announced for the Arizona site, and the state’s lawsuit seeking to force one is still in its early stages.

What Local Governments Can and Cannot Do

A recurring question in the Surprise dispute is whether the city itself had any power to say no. Under the Supremacy Clause, federal agencies generally are not required to comply with local zoning rules. The Surprise City Council acknowledged this in a formal statement, and the City of Oklahoma City reached the same conclusion when facing a similar proposed processing center.¹⁶¹⁷

The picture is more nuanced than blanket federal supremacy. Federal law itself requires agencies to consult with local officials and comply with building codes “to the maximum extent feasible.”¹⁸¹⁹²⁰

Surprise officials have said they had no prior notice of the warehouse purchase and were not contacted by DHS or any federal agency about the intended use.²¹ The Surprise City Council was scheduled to discuss a proposed letter to DHS requesting compliance with state and local laws at a May 5, 2026 meeting, though no formal resolution opposing the facility had passed as of that date.²²

1
Arizona Attorney General. Attorney General Mayes Sues to Block Proposed ICE Detention Facility in Surprise
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KJZZ. Arizona’s Attorney General Sues DHS to Stop Planned ICE Detention Center in Surprise
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Arizona Public Media. Stop Work Order Issued for Surprise ICE Facility Contractor
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KJZZ. After Meeting With DHS, Surprise Mayor Provides New Details on ICE Facility
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News From the States. Arizona AG Sues Trump Over Surprise Immigration Detention Warehouse
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Arizona Attorney General. Arizona v. Mullin Complaint With Exhibits
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Arizona Mirror. Arizona AG Sues Trump Over Surprise Immigration Detention Warehouse
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Project Salt Box. Work on $313 Million Contract to Convert Surprise Warehouse Has Stalled
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KJZZ. Stop Work Order Issued for Contractor at Planned Arizona ICE Detention Center
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No ICE in Surprise. No ICE in Surprise
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CBS News Baltimore. Maryland Immigration ICE Facility Work Paused by Judge
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WMAR. Judge Blocks Construction on ICE Detention Center in Hagerstown for Now
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Michigan Attorney General. AG Nessel Files Lawsuit Challenging Plan to Convert Romulus Warehouse Into ICE Detention Center
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Bloomberg Law. ICE Changes Environmental Review Plan for Detention Centers
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The New York Times. ICE Warehouse Environmental Review
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Arizona Mirror. Mayes Considers Public Nuisance Lawsuit to Stop ICE Detention Center in Surprise
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City of Oklahoma City. Statement From the City of OKC About Proposed Processing Center
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Urban Institute. What Happens When ICE Detention Facilities Conflict With Land Use Rules
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The Marshall Project. ICE Arizona Texas Georgia Warehouse
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CNN. Immigration ICE Detention Centers Trump
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KJZZ. Hundreds Packed Surprise Council Meeting About ICE Facility
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Your Valley. Surprise Council to Discuss Letter to ICE Over Detention Facility