Mesa Can’t Enforce Its Own Fire Codes at an ICE Facility Where Detainees Can’t Even Sit Down

After the Mesa Fire and Medical Department responded to a January medical call at the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center at Mesa-Gateway Airport, fire officials issued ICE a list of corrections after finding severe overcrowding — ICE confirmed 238 people were detained that day, well over the facility’s 157-person design capacity. The city says it cannot enforce its own fire code at the federal site because of the Supremacy Clause, leaving local officials with no authority over conditions that have averaged 274 detainees per day in 2026, with rooms designed for 21 holding 40–50 people forced to sleep on concrete floors.