Congressional visit documents severe overcrowding at Mesa ICE facility with 250 detainees
Apr 10, 2026·Location: Mesa, AZ

Three Democratic members of Congress conducted an unannounced inspection of an ICE detention facility at Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona on April 9, 2026, and documented severe overcrowding conditions. The facility held approximately 250 people in a space designed for 157 detainees. Individual rooms designed to hold 21 people contained 40-50 detainees forced to sleep on concrete floors in shoulder-to-shoulder conditions that exceeded fire code capacity. Detainees reported fevers and heat with limited access to medical care, sanitary facilities, and toilets shared among dozens of people. Some detainees had been held for multiple days despite the facility's 12-hour maximum capacity limit. The lawmakers sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security requesting information about the facility conditions.
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