{"id":1867,"date":"2026-06-17T12:33:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2026-06-17T12:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:33:30","slug":"activists-file-petition-to-disincorporate-city-of-surprise-over-planned-ice-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1867","title":{"rendered":"Activists file petition to disincorporate City of Surprise over planned ICE facility"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>SURPRISE, AZ \u2014 In a dramatic escalation of opposition to a planned ICE processing center, activists have filed what they describe as an unprecedented petition to disincorporate the City of Surprise and return its land and assets to Maricopa County.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1865\">Police close Liberty H.S. hazing case without recommending charges<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Organizers announced the effort during the final city council meeting before the summer recess, saying city leaders have failed to protect residents from the impacts of the federal facility.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Helfgot, an activist involved in the effort, said he submitted the petition on Tuesday to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors clerk. If the petition language is approved, he will have 180 days to gather at least 70,000 signatures to force a vote by the Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an uphill climb. We know it\u2019s going to require a lot of work, but it is worth the effort to protect this community if its leaders won\u2019t protect it,\u201d Helfgot said.<\/p>\n<p>Activists have raised concerns about conditions at other ICE detention sites and pointed to the proximity of a chemical storage facility to the planned Surprise location. They have also distributed baseball card\u2013style handouts criticizing each member of the Surprise City Council.<\/p>\n<p>Erika Andiola of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network urged city leaders to take a stronger stance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust have a little bit of courage to stand up to the Trump Administration and close this detention warehouse. No human should live in these conditions,\u201d Andiola said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1863\">MOST ACCURATE FORECAST: Breezy with lingering storm chances in the Valley<\/a><\/p>\n<p>City officials, including Mayor Kevin Sartor, met with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE in March. Sartor has said the facility near Waddell and Dysart roads will serve as a short-term processing center, holding undocumented immigrants for three to seven days.<\/p>\n<p>He said operations would begin with about 250 people per week, with a maximum of 542 occupied beds, and emphasized that no one would be released within city limits.<\/p>\n<p>Sartor also said the city cannot prevent a federal agency from purchasing land, but is working to minimize local impacts.<\/p>\n<p>Some activists argue the project should not move forward without more detailed planning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout a plan, the work must stop,\u201d said Brent Peak of Northwest Valley Indivisible.<\/p>\n<p>The facility is expected to open around September.<\/p>\n<p><i>This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1861\">Explore the night sky at Gilbert Rotary Centennial Observatory\u2019s free public star parties and events<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Activists have filed a petition to disincorporate the City of Surprise and return its land and assets to Maricopa County over a planned ICE processing center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-surprise-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Activists file petition to disincorporate City of Surprise over planned ICE facility - 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