PHOENIX — This week, Representatives Greg Stanton (AZ-04) and Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) conducted a surprise oversight visit at the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center (AROCC) at the Mesa Gateway Airport following alarming reports of abuse and medical neglect inside the facility.
The visit comes after the Arizona Mirror reported that, in late February, a 911 call was placed from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Mesa after a man reportedly suffered a seizure when immigration agents deployed pepper spray against a group of 47 detainees confined in an enclosed room.
"The conditions we've seen at this facility are alarming, and they demand answers,” said Rep. Stanton. “That's why I introduced legislation to restore a 12-hour limit on detentions in temporary holding facilities: because overcrowding, pepper spray incidents, and medical neglect aren't acceptable under any circumstances. Arizonans have been clear that they oppose this administration's mass deportation agenda, and we're going to fight every effort to expand it -- including the kinds of dangerous, overcrowded operations we've seen right here in Mesa."
“Members of Congress have the authority to conduct unannounced oversight visits to ICE detention centers and facilities, and we’ll keep exercising that authority,” said Rep. Ansari. “The inhumane and deeply troubling conditions we witnessed Tuesday night and again during our April 9 visit are starkly different from the picture ICE presents during scheduled visits.”
In response to the incident, Representatives Ansari, Stanton, and Grijalva sent a formal letter last week to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons, demanding answers and accountability over the treatment of detainees at the facility. Read the letter HERE.
In the letter, the lawmakers raise concerns about the medical impacts of the deployed pepper spray on detained individuals and the lack of transparency from DHS.
“We are concerned that this incident fits into a broader national trend of widespread use of physical force and chemical agents inside ICE detention facilities nationwide. Further, this incident continues a disturbing pattern of unsafe practices at the AROCC facility,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter demands answers to the following questions:
- Please provide all incident reports, after-action reviews, medical assessments, surveillance footage, witness statements, and internal communications related to the incident.
- How many detainees were present in the room where pepper spray was deployed, and what was the posted maximum occupancy for that room at the time of the incident?
- What was the total number of detainees at the facility at the time of the incident?
- What ventilation, evacuation, or decontamination procedures were followed after pepper spray was deployed in the facility?
Last month, the three members introduced legislation addressing overcrowding in short-term holding facilities following an unannounced visit made the night of April 9. During this visit, the lawmakers observed significant overcrowding, with rooms holding 40 to 50 people, despite a posted maximum capacity of 21, for much longer than 12 hours on average.