This is not a leaked script for the next Marvel Blockbuster
The people in Surprise, Arizona are fighting a massive Trump prison camp and they are so annoyed with their city council not helping them that they are advancing an effort to literally dissolve the city. They are trying to Thanos snap the city council out of existence so they are not in the way anymore and they can fight this concentration camp harder.
The 70 Million Dollar Mistake
It started when the feds spent 70 million dollars to buy a 418,400 square foot vacant commercial warehouse in January. They handed out over 300 million dollars in contracts to turn it into an ICE detention center that holds up to 1500 people. The layout is completely insane. It is just one mile from public schools and directly across the street from a hazardous chemical storage facility. The plant has containerized storage for chemicals used in semiconductor production. If there is an emergency or a leak it is literally a mass casualty event waiting to happen right in their backyards because the detainees would be locked inside.
Wiping Themselves Off the Map
The residents packed the city council meetings and begged for help but Mayor Kevin Sartor and the city council basically did nothing, saying they cannot stop a federal agency from buying land. So the activists said fine, we do not need you.
Activist Jeremy Helfgot officially filed a petition with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors clerk to disincorporate the city of Surprise entirely. If the clerk approves the petition language they will have 180 days to get 70,000 signatures from voters. If they hit that number the whole city could be legally dissolved and ownership of the land goes straight to Maricopa County. They are ready to wipe their own city off the map because the local leaders are cowards and refuse every public inquiry regarding the safety hazards.
Taking the Fight Higher
Meanwhile Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is actually fighting it. She filed a federal lawsuit to stop the whole project. She pointed out that the feds completely skipped the required environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act. She also called out the fact that a random industrial warehouse is simply not plumbed for 1500 human beings. Mayes even warned that the massive amount of water the jail would use could leave firefighters without enough pressure to fight a blaze at the chemical plant next door.
Arizona AG sues Trump over Surprise immigration detention warehouse
How You Can Actually Help
If you are wondering how you can support the people fighting this on the ground here is what you can do.
Sign the petition if you live there: If you are a registered voter in the city of Surprise you need to sign the disincorporation petition. They need 70,000 signatures just to force the Board of Supervisors to vote on dissolving the city.
Support local organizers: Groups and local leaders like Jeremy Helfgot are on the ground organizing and speaking out against the toxic facility, especially as the situation escalates following recent arson attempts and massive community protests. Amplify their work and look for ways to support their organizing.
Put pressure on Maricopa County: Since the ultimate goal is to hand the city’s land and assets back to the county, putting public pressure on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors helps ensure they know the whole country is watching how they handle this.
Keep raising hell online: Part of the point of the petition is to force a massive spotlight on the ICE facility. Share articles like the Arizona Mirror’s coverage of the community protests and arson and the Attorney General suing Trump over the warehouse. Talk about the sheer danger of placing a prison camp next to a chemical plant and do not let the feds do this quietly.
The lesson here is that if your local government will not protect you from a toxic facility being dropped in your community, you just get rid of the government and take the fight higher. The Thanos snap is in progress and the clock is ticking on those signatures.
