PHOENIX– Last week, Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) hosted a series of local events during her congressional district work period focused on standing up against ICE and providing constituents with resources to be prepared. On Thursday, Ansari hosted a Know Your Rights Tele-Town Hall in partnership with ACLU Arizona. On Friday, she conducted an oversight visit to the Central Arizona Correctional Center in Florence, Arizona, following the death of Emmanuel Damas, who had been held at the facility—marking her fifth oversight visit to a detention facility in Arizona. Ansari also sent a letter demanding an investigation into Mr. Damas’ death and pushing for answers about the $313.4 million contract awarded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to GardaWorld to renovate an immigration facility in Surprise, Arizona.
See coverage below.
ABC15 Arizona: Ansari Discusses Visit to Florence Prison
Rep. Ansari: “We asked about how they notified Emmanuel's family of his death because my team spoke with Emmanuel's brother about all of this, and they've heard nothing. They don't know when an investigation is happening. They don't even know how it got to the point where their brother's toothache led to his death because of ICE. Emmanuel is now at least the 10th person to die in ICE custody so far this year. And sadly, this is not at all an isolated case. I've seen this type of cruelty firsthand, not only at the Florence Correctional Center, but at the Eloy Detention Center nearby. I have a constituent named Yari, who is currently detained at the Eloy Detention Center in central Arizona. She has leukemia, and she's dying, and she's been there for over a year now. For more than a year, she's experienced severe medical neglect. She's lost over 70 pounds and cannot even move without a walker. She's often forced to go without any pain medication other than Tylenol. When I visited her last, I witnessed her vomiting blood, and she was too weak to stand. Just like Emmanuel, she is being denied the critical medical care she desperately needs while in ICE custody. This kind of inhumane medical neglect must end. No agency is above the law.”
Reporter: “[Representative Ansari] has long been concerned about medical responses within ICE detention; and really, that’s what she was trying to drill down and figure out today. She says she was trying to learn more about policies within the Florence ICE detention center and how site contractors, CoreCivic—who are contracted by ICE to actually staff and run the facility—operate. She wants to learn more about how, when somebody says, ‘Hey, I’m having a medical issue,’ ICE is directing these companies to respond. Are they responding in a timely manner?
She said today she didn't get a lot of clarity. In fact, she says when she went into that facility, she was met by CoreCivic, the company contracted to run the site there. She was met by a lawyer from CoreCivic who was guiding people on how to respond to questions; so, she felt as if, again, she wasn't able to get a lot of clarity into what may have happened with this Damas situation. This is against a backdrop where she's concerned about, again, these medical shortcomings happening very broadly nationwide within ICE detention and custody.”
IN PRINT
AZ Luminaria: If an ICE detention center opens in Marana, who would hold it accountable?
[Yana Kunichoff, 03/16/26]
Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva, joined by Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari, sent a letter on Feb. 19 to now-outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons asking for clarity on the possibility of a detention center opening in a shuttered prison in Marana.
On March 9, the group sent a letter to Noem asking for an investigation into the death of Emmanuel Damas at Florence.
“His death is unacceptable and raises grave concerns over treatment and quality of healthcare that individuals in ICE custody receive,” the letter said. “Additionally, this incident calls into question the training, standards and guidelines that DHS provides to ICE and detention center staff.”
KJZZ: Trump administration awards contract to operate immigration detention facility in Surprise
[Wayne Schutsky, 03/12/26]
“The decision to convert a warehouse not designed or zoned for human habitation into a large-scale detention facility on an expedited basis raises profound questions about contractor qualifications, concern for human health and safety, and the humane treatment of individuals who will be held there,” Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva wrote in a letter to GardaWorld Federal President Pete Dordal.
KTAR: Arizona Democrats seek answers from DHS, ICE on West Valley detention facility contractor
[Kylie Werner, 03/13/26]
It’s the second time Stanton, Ansari and Grijalva questioned federal officials about the planned Surprise ICE facility, following a Feb. 5 letter.
“Once again, DHS leaves Arizonans in the dark, awarding a massive contract to a firm with no experience in detention center oversight,” Stanton said in a joint press release Thursday. “This is Trump’s mass deportation agenda at work, and none of this makes our community safer or more prosperous — just the opposite.”
Arizona Republic: DHS taps 'Alligator Alcatraz' company to run Surprise ICE center
[Elena Santa Cruz, 03/13/26]
U.S. Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva, all Democrats, signed March 11 letters to government leaders and the company about their concerns regarding GardaWorld's qualifications and the safety and treatment of the people who will be held at the facility.
"We are greatly concerned by reporting that GardaWorld, a security contractor, has never been directly contracted to oversee any detention facility but nevertheless has been awarded this significant contract," they said in the letter. "Furthermore, the contract was awarded through a Department of Defense procurement system, bypassing a normal bidding process that would have ensured community buy-in and necessary due diligence."
Deseret News: ‘Arizona Alcatraz’? U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hires a contractor for a new detention facility in Phoenix suburbs
[Gitanjali Poonia, 03/15/26]
“This was done without any local input or the slightest concern for the surrounding community,” a letter, cosigned by Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, and addressed to the DHS, stated.
“The decision to convert a warehouse not designed or zoned for human habitation into a large-scale detention facility on an expedited basis raises profound questions about contractor qualifications, concerns for human health and safety, and the humane treatment of individuals who will be held there.”
Follow @RepYassAnsari on all social media platforms and visit Ansari.House.gov to learn more.
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