1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

I am writing regarding the dangerous and inhumane conditions ICE has caused at Mesa Gateway Airport with their gross and unlawful overcrowding of detained people in facilities clearly not certified for occupancy at levels they are maintaining. The Arizona Republic reports that the facility at Mesa Gateway was built to accommodate 157 people but that the current certificate of occupancy lists a maximum capacity of 203 people. Despite this, in February when an ICE agent phoned 911 to report medical distress among detained immigrants after deployment of pepper spray, there were 332 people being held at the facility. No one from the City of Mesa has taken any responsibility for enforcing city building and occupancy codes, with the Mayor speaking as though any building serving a federal agency is not under any obligation to comply with our local laws. This is a dangerous distortion of our system of governance. Federal agencies are not at liberty to overcrowd local buildings any more than they can visit our towns and steal food from residents’ pantries, evict us from our homes to live in them, refuse to abide by the thousands of local regulations that, frankly, are the bedrock of a functioning society. The supremacy clause is not a blank check. Indeed, the CEO of Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, J. Brian O’Neill, knows that ICE is not free to ignore its occupancy allowance, spelled out in its lease; he sent a letter to the facility’s landlord warning that the building’s lease would be terminated if they failed to comply with safety regulations. We should not be relying on a businessman to enforce city code. Speak plainly and be clear: all federal agencies must operate within the law when they visit our state. Should they fail in this basic duty, our elected government will protect Arizonans—-all Arizonans—-by enforcing the rules, regulations, and codes that exist to keep us safe.