According to a report by AZ Family based on Maricopa County property records, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has quietly purchased a massive industrial facility in Surprise, Arizona, for over $70 million.
The 418,000-square-foot warehouse, located near Sweetwater Avenue and Dysart Road, was acquired in an all-cash transaction by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on January 23, 2026, catching local officials and residents completely off guard.
The sheer scale of the acquisition has raised immediate alarms in the West Valley community. The facility, described as being roughly the size of seven football fields, was originally marketed as a commercial distribution center.
However, shortly after the purchase was uncovered, ICE officials confirmed plans to convert the site into a processing and detention center capable of holding approximately 1,500 detainees.
This move appears to be part of a broader federal initiative to rapidly expand detention capacity by acquiring vacant industrial warehouses across the country, with similar purchases recently reported in Maryland and Texas.
Despite the magnitude of the project, city officials say they were left in the dark. In a statement, the City of Surprise clarified that they were “not aware of any proposed project or facility of this nature” prior to the sale and had received no communication from federal agencies regarding the intended use of the site.
While federal property is generally exempt from local zoning laws, the lack of transparency has sparked outrage among neighbors and advocacy groups, who have already begun organizing protests outside the facility.
Local leaders now face a difficult reality: while the Surprise Police Department does not participate in federal immigration enforcement, the city has acknowledged it has no legal authority to stop the federal government’s operations.
As construction crews prepare to retrofit the massive structure for its new purpose, the facility stands as a tangible symbol of the intensifying federal crackdown on immigration and the shifting landscape of enforcement infrastructure in suburban America.
End Time Headlines is a ministry founded, owned, and operated by Ricky Scaparo, established in 2010 to equip believers and inform discerning individuals about the “Signs and Seasons” of the times in which we live. Ricky authors original articles and curates news from mainstream sources, carefully selecting topics, verifying information, and utilizing artificial intelligence tools to ensure content is both timely and accurate. Every piece is personally reviewed and edited by Ricky to align with the ministry’s mission of providing a prophetic perspective on current events.
