Today, I met with Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor to discuss safety concerns with the ICE detention center being so close to Dysart High School and sharing the same road as our school.
Here is how the meeting went:
- The Mayor personally opposes the ICE detention center but he will not use city resources or legal avenues to fight it because DHS is communicating with him. He wants to keep the line of communication open with them.
- On April 9th, I also met with Surprise City Council Members: Jack Hastings, Nick Haney, and Chris Judd. All three told me they personally oppose the detention center and they support my 3-mile buffer zone proposal. I asked each of them to publicly support it on social media. Hastings said he would. Haney left the meeting early. Judd said he doesn’t manage his social media.
- After my meeting with the council members, I submitted a formal request to have my 3-mile safety buffer zone proposal put as an agenda item for the April 21st city council meeting. I sent it to all six city council members. None of them replied back.
- The Mayor told me today they will not be putting my proposal on the agenda.
- He said there will be no agenda item regarding the detention center at the April 21st city council meeting.
- The Mayor told me the council went into an executive session immediately after the Call to the Public at the last city council meeting on April 7th. During that session, Chris Judd retracted his motion for an item about the detention center to be placed as an agenda item for the next meeting.
- He said that DHS really has no current plan for the facility and that even opening it by October 1st is aggressive.
- Mayor Sartor is also the Safety Coordinator for Dysart School District Safety. The detention center shares the same road as my school. I asked him what the city’s safety plan is for the students traveling to and from school. He said they don’t have a plan.
- He said Rep. Paul Gosar was only at the DHS meeting with the council members for introductions but did not stay for it. Council Member Jack Hastings told me in our meeting that Gosar was angry about the ICE detention center as a whole.
- The Mayor said it will be impossible for me to get Rep. Gosar to support my proposal.
- He said my 3-mile buffer zone proposal is a smart idea and is frustrated that federal lawmakers haven’t already proposed it.
- He will not publicly support my 3-mile safety buffer zone.
- He said his main worry is that DHS will use Luke Air Force base to transport detainees and that would change the mission of the base which could potentially cause the base to close. I would think this is a pretty big deal to everyone who supports the base being here.
- The Mayor said the detention center is going to affect our community in many different ways and also our city budget.
I left the meeting feeling frustrated, angry, and exhausted. To summarize both of my meetings with the Mayor and Surprise city council members:
They all oppose the detention center. They all agree it’s a safety issue for students. They all privately support my 3-mile buffer zone proposal. No, they will not publicly support it. And no, they have no other plan.
I have spent my final year of high school meeting with almost every elected leader in Arizona from our Congressional leaders to our state leaders to our local leaders. Democrats and Republicans. It doesn’t matter. They all say the same thing to me in private. And then nothing happens. I don’t know where to go from here. If you know, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Cali Overs
Student Body Vice President
Dysart High School