Members of Congress are still concerned about a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Mesa after seeing cells still overcrowded and finding out that toilets at the facility “regularly overflow” after an unannounced visit Tuesday night. 

This is the second surprise oversight visit to the facility located at Mesa-Gateway Airport known as the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center, which has been operating far over its 157-person capacity for most of this year. Daily populations at the facility have reached as high as 777. 

An Arizona Mirror analysis of ICE detention data found that one of the few times ICE was detaining fewer people than that was when those same Democrats toured the facility in February — after giving ICE a week’s notice that they’d be taking a tour. Almost immediately after that oversight visit, the number of detainees shot back up.

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And a week after that visit, ICE used pepper spray on 47 detainees who were housed there in the early morning hours; one person reportedly had a “seizure,” according to a 911 call obtained by the Mirror. 

The facility, first reported on by the Mirror, takes up 25,000-square-feet in a building located at the Mesa-Gateway Airport, where it shares space with the U.S. Forest Service and the Phoenix Interagency Fire Center. 

“The facility was built for 12 hours, and people are regularly staying there for three days or more. It is completely unacceptable,” U.S. Representative Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, told the Mirror in an exclusive interview after leaving the facility on Tuesday. “That fundamental problem has not been fixed one bit.”

Detainees are supposed to be at AROCC for no more than 12 hours while they wait to be loaded onto a plane, either so they can be deported or transferred to a different ICE facility. The Mirror’s reporting found that publicly available data shows how overcrowded the facility has become in the past year: The average length of stay in 2026 is about 36 hours, compared to the same time frame in 2025, when the average stay was about 12 hours. 

In 2025, the average daily population was approximately 21 people for the same timeframe. So far in 2026, there have been an average of 274 detainees each day. The Mirror found one individual in the data who stayed for 18 days, coinciding with a time when the population of the facility was near its peak of 777 individuals in a single day. 

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While the facility wasn’t as overcrowded Tuesday evening as it was during their last visit, where the Democrats described detainees stuffed in cells “like sardines,” both Stanton and U.S. Representative Yassamin Ansari said that some of the holding cells still held more people on Tuesday than the listed capacity for the rooms. 

“This time I think the only difference is that they were actually moving the threshold and standard for not overcrowding each cell,” Ansari, also a Phoenix Democrat, said. “Otherwise, they are still in concrete cells, they’re drinking tap water and they’re not given anywhere to sleep.” 

They also learned that toilets in the cells “regularly” overflow. 

The two members of Congress asked about the toilets due to recent reporting by the Phoenix New Times that detailed the story of one recent detainee of the facility whose wife told the publication that he had slept on feces-covered floors. 

“There is one toilet in a room of 21 men that regularly overflows, and that is disturbing and clearly a health issue,” Ansari said, adding that staff confirmed that there is no on-site medical care. 

ICE agents told the two lawmakers that they try to move detainees out of rooms that have plumbing issues, but are not always able to due to the number of people at the facility on a given day. Both said that the overcrowding, the lack of medical care, the issues with toilets and a lack of available showers makes the facility a “real public health issue.” 

Ansari and Stantion said they also learned that detainees who stay past the 12 hours are fed “cold sandwiches” for every single meal. They said the ICE agents at the facility did not say what they do for detainees with dietary restrictions due to health or religious beliefs. 

“The only thing they proactively mentioned was they don’t use pork,” Ansari said. 

Both also mentioned that ICE staff seems to be aware that the facility is not meant to house detainees long-term. However, that same staff also limited what the Democrats could do while at the facility.

“We were able to visually see (the detainees), but not able to interact with them in any regard,” Stanton said, noting that one individual called out to them saying he needed medicine. He said that ICE was stricter this time about letting them speak with detainees as compared to their previous oversight visit. 

Also, ICE staff did not allow Mesa Councilmember Jenn Duff to accompany the lawmakers into the facility, and said that congressional staff could not enter without giving 24-hour written notice. 

“It is unfortunate, because the city runs the airport, so a member of council who oversees taxpayers that go to this airport should be allowed inside,” Stanton said. “I understand from a legal perspective why they say no, but from a practical matter and leadership perspective, she should be allowed in.”

In an interview with the Mirror, Duff said that was the outcome she expected, as the city lacks the ability to regulate facilities run by the federal government. 

“Even though I tried to get in, I did expect I would be turned away, so I was not surprised,” she said. “I’ve been trying to get a tour, but I haven’t been successful yet.”

As for what is next for the lawmakers? 

They say they plan to continue oversight visits like this one. Stanton’s staff has been conducting weekly visits and he said they plan to continue to do unannounced visits, as well. 

Additionally, Stanton said it is important to pass legislation he proposed with Ansari and Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, who has also visited the facility in the past, that would ensure that facilities like AROCC are only used for short durations. 

The Short-Term Holding Facilities Standards Restoration Act ensures that facilities like AROCC are only used for short durations, except for cases of medical emergencies or transportation delays. It also requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to justify and document the conditions at these facilities and provide those records to Congress. 

Stanton also said he doesn’t plan to vote for any new funding for ICE. 

“We have an important budget vote coming up on ICE and I certainly don’t plan to support any increased budget for ICE,” Stanton said. Congress could vote on the budget as early as Friday.