Arizona Democrats shocked by conditions at ICE holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport

PHOENIX – Arizona’s three Democratic U.S. House members said they were shocked by what they saw during their unannounced visit to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport on Thursday night.

“What we saw inside the facility tonight was shocking — overcrowding to a level that was completely unacceptable,” Rep. Greg Stanton said during a news conference after witnessing the conditions at an ICE facility called the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center with Reps. Adelita Grijalva and Yassamin Ansari.

Tonight, I conducted unannounced oversight at ICE’s Mesa Airport detention center with @RepYassAnsari and @Rep_Grijalva.

What we saw was horrifying — crowded cells at 2-3x capacity and busses more of detainees being loaded in. This is Trump’s mass deportation machine in action. pic.twitter.com/IueA5cBjyH

— Rep. Greg Stanton (@RepGregStanton) April 10, 2026

Stanton said people are being held for multiple days in a facility meant for short-term stays for detainees before their deportation flights. He said the ICE facility was well over capacity, with detainees lying side by side on a concrete floor and more being bused in.

Grijalva said the visit was part of their congressional oversight responsibilities.

“The overcrowding situation is frightening. And you have people that are sick, people that are sweating, … women that need sanitary napkins and were asking me if I could get some for them,” Grijalva said in a video posted to social media.

Just finished a surprise Congressional oversight visit at a temporary ICE holding site in Mesa, AZ. The conditions are absolutely horrific. No human being should be treated this way. pic.twitter.com/krZ05F2g8a

— Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) April 10, 2026

Ansari said they wanted to see how detainees were being treated after receiving reports of overcrowding and a potential hunger strike. She said ICE wouldn’t let them talk to anyone in custody, but the detainees didn’t hold their tongues.

“Through the cracks in the door, they are telling us that it’s extremely hot, that they have been there for days when they’re not supposed to be in this place for more than 12 hours,” she said in a video posted to social media.

I just conducted an unprompted, late night oversight visit at an ICE holding facility at the Mesa Gateway Airport with @RepGregStanton and @Rep_Grijalva. What we saw was shocking and sick.

Well over 240 detainees stacked like sardines in cells. People were sick and ICE was… pic.twitter.com/mN8GIAXrpd

— Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (@RepYassAnsari) April 10, 2026

Arizona Democrat suggests criminal charges related to Mesa ICE facility

Grijalva suggested that the people responsible for conditions should face criminal charges.

“It is illegal, and every single individual that is a part of what’s happening here behind us, part of ICE, should be brought up on charges. ICE needs to be abolished. This is inhumane,” she said.

Ansari said it is important for them to continue this kind of oversight and take whatever actions they can.

“We need to be talking about this issue loudly and exposing ICE and these private prison companies for what is happening inside these facilities,” Ansari said. “And I think it is very important, now that I’ve seen this with my own eyes, for us to work directly with municipalities and the county to do everything possible to stop this. This is a health and safety hazard, fire hazard and so much more.”

Mesa Gateway Airport has been a hub for ICE deportations for years. Avelo Airlines stopped making federal deportation flights from Gateway in January, eight months after the budget carrier started them.

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