What was supposed to be a quick layover stop for people in immigration custody is now under a harsh spotlight, after two Arizona Democrats walked out of a little-known ICE holding site at Mesa Gateway Airport and called it “deeply disturbing — sickening, actually.”
Reps. Yassamin Ansari and Greg Stanton spent about 90 minutes inside the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center on Friday. When they came out, they described cramped holding rooms, no beds, only blankets on hard surfaces, and people being kept far longer than the 12-hour layovers the facility was supposed to handle. Their visit has sharpened local scrutiny of the Mesa hub that coordinates ICE air deportation flights and has renewed demands for stronger congressional oversight.
According to reporting and a Mirror analysis of ICE detention records, 3,097 people were held at the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center for more than 12 hours between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15, 2025. That review also found 95 cases in which detention lasted more than 48 hours and one case in which a person was recorded as being held for 42 days. Arizona Mirror reported that in June 2025, 77 people were kept for about four days over Eid al-Adha before being deported on a charter flight. ICE officials told lawmakers that longer stays were often blamed on flight delays or mechanical trouble with aircraft.
What lawmakers say they saw inside AROCC
Inside the building, Ansari and Stanton said they saw group holding rooms without showers or beds, where 20 to 25 people might share a single toilet and sleep with only blankets for bedding. They said there was no on-site medical clinic and that ICE staff told them they would call a local hospital if someone needed care.
The picture they drew matches earlier local reporting and audit findings that described the Mesa site as a short-term stop, not a place designed for multi day detention. As reported by KJZZ, auditors have previously noted that the facility was not equipped for people to be held there for days at a time.
AROCC's role and history
The Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center opened in 2010 as a roughly 25,000 square foot staging facility meant for short layovers. ICE’s original announcement described capacity for up to 157 detainees and 79 staffers. Public records and reporting have shown that Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport functions as a hub for ICE Air operations, with deportation flights coordinated out of the center.
The rollout, staffing plans, and stated purpose of the site are preserved in immigration law archives and local coverage. Both the archived ICE announcement maintained by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and reporting from AILA and Phoenix New Times document how the facility was introduced to the public and how it fits into the broader deportation system.
Transparency and accountability questions
During their tour, the lawmakers said ICE officials told them there is no formal policy that kicks in when people are held longer than 12 hours. They also said some local officials only learned through media coverage that the agency was looking at purchasing a warehouse in Surprise for immigration operations.
Ansari called for clawing back roughly $75 billion in ICE funding that was included in last year’s reconciliation measures, arguing that the visit underscored how little accountability there is for how that money is used. She and Stanton both said what they saw in Mesa raised fresh concerns about ICE’s transparency and chain of command. According to Arizona Mirror, the two went so far as to urge that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem be fired or even impeached over her handling of immigration policy.
Local reaction and next steps
The facility has not gone unnoticed in the community. Local groups have been organizing protests since the Mesa center drew wider attention, with Mesa Valley Indivisible listing multiple demonstrations planned around the Gateway Airport complex.
Ansari told reporters she will push for more oversight, including another visit to the Eloy Detention Center, and has already introduced legislation that would require more regular reporting and audits at ICE facilities. Local coverage shows activists and lawmakers planning follow up visits, hearings, and community actions in an effort to keep pressure on the agency. Mesa Valley Indivisible and Phoenix New Times have been tracking recent protests and oversight efforts.
Legal and policy questions
The fight over who gets to see inside facilities like Mesa’s has been playing out in court as well as in Congress. Access for lawmakers has been the subject of national litigation, with Democrats challenging Department of Homeland Security rules that limit unannounced visits and judges weighing how to balance operational security with Congress’s oversight role.
Advocates say that battle has real consequences in Arizona, because oversight visits are one of the few ways to document conditions that might later lead to lawsuits, policy shifts, or changes in funding. For a wider look at the national dispute over access to detention sites, see coverage from The Guardian.
Ansari has also rolled out a package of bills aimed at tightening transparency and accountability requirements for ICE. The measures would mandate health reporting, yearly audits, and repeal portions of last year’s large ICE appropriation. Her office says the goal is to force more public data on conditions inside facilities and to give Congress stronger tools for oversight. Details of the proposal are laid out in Rep. Ansari's press release.
