This afternoon, I sent an email to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin requesting a meeting with him. I am asking DHS to adopt a nationwide 3-mile buffer zone between ICE facilities and K-12 schools. Every student across the United States has a fundamental right to a safe path to school. This is not a political issue. It is a student safety issue. I'll update everyone if/when I hear back from him.
Here is the email I sent:
Dear Secretary Mullin,
My name is Cali Overs. I am 17 years old and I just graduated this week from Dysart High School in El Mirage, Arizona, where I served as Student Body Vice President. I am writing to request a meeting with you.
In January 2026, DHS purchased a 418,000-square-foot warehouse at 13290 W. Sweetwater Ave in Surprise with no notification to our Mayor or City Council, the school board, or the residents. It is less than a mile away from Dysart High School and Dysart Middle School and shares the same road. Due to budget cuts, every student living within two miles of school is not provided with bus transportation. That means hundreds of students walk, drive, and bike directly past that building every single day to get to and from school.
Students are scared of what this ICE detention center is going to bring. Before school and after school is already chaotic as it is. Now students are going to have to navigate around nonstop traffic from detainee transport buses, ICE agents, heavy media presence, and angry protestors. Someone already tried to set the building on fire and it’s not even open yet.
Also, 60% of Dysart High School’s student body is Hispanic. Because of the recent Supreme Court decision that allows federal agents to use race and ethnicity to stop someone, students are worried about being stopped on their way to and from school just because they are Hispanic.
Many students have told me they are too scared to go past this area and are switching to online classes. My class size in my Junior year was 340 students. Two days ago, I graduated with a class of 261 students. The average percentage of high school students who switch schools during a single school year is 4% to 6%. My class size dropped almost 25%. The fear is real, it is spreading, and students who are American citizens are changing the course of their education because they no longer feel safe going to school.
I spent the last three months of my Senior year in high school trying to be heard through every proper channel. I've contacted my school board, I met with my mayor and council members, and I've spoken at five Surprise City Council meetings. I’ve met with the staff of Rep. Paul Gosar, Rep. David Schweikert, Sen. Mark Kelly, and Sen. Ruben Gallego. Rep. Paul Gosar’s staff member, Penny Pew, dismissed all of my safety concerns as hypothetical and told me that my classmates and I need to accommodate our lives around this detention center. I don’t accept that. Every student across the United States has a fundamental right to a safe path to and from school and to feel safe while being at school. This is not a political issue, it is a student safety issue.
I am asking the Department of Homeland Security to adopt a nationwide policy requiring a minimum three-mile buffer zone between ICE detention, processing, intake, or transport facilities and K-12 schools. This three-mile buffer guarantees that detention centers are never placed inside the walking zone of students. It establishes a safe boundary separating these two worlds so they never collide with each other. This is a reasonable, middle ground solution to a very difficult topic. I started an online petition at www.3milebuffer.com and it has almost 10,000 signatures so far.
Please let me know when you can meet with me. I am on summer vacation now and can make myself available at your earliest convenience. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cali Overs
Former Student Body Vice President
Recent Graduate, Dysart High School
Surprise, Arizona
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Please sign and share my 3-mile buffer zone petition calling on Congress to pass federal legislation keeping ICE detention centers three miles away from K-12 schools: www.3milebuffer.com