Rep. Grijalva Conducts Unannounced Visit at Florence Staging Facility

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Florence, Arizona — On Thursday, May 7 Rep. Adelita Grijalva conducted an unannounced Congressional oversight visit at the Florence Staging Facility (FSF). This is a facility run by the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) on the campus of the Florence Detention Center Complex (separate from the Florence Corrections Facility run by the private operator CoreCivic). FSF is supposed to be a short-term holding location with a capacity of 187 people where recently detained individuals are processed before being transferred to a long-term detention facility. According to ICE, “the facility houses male and female detainees for up to 72 hours but does not house juveniles or families.” 

However, the Office of Congresswoman Grijalva’s casework team has received direct reports from people detained there being held for weeks at a time in sub-standard conditions, including lack of medical care, access to legal representation, clean laundry, basic hygienic supplies, and a proper place to sleep. 

“I am going to continue conducting these unannounced oversight visits and holding this administration accountable for its cruel mass deportation agenda,” said Rep. Grijalva. “I am deeply concerned by reports my office has received of severe overcrowding and individuals being held for weeks at a time in facilities that were never intended for long-term detention, including this facility and AROCC in Mesa. This underscores the urgent need for federal legislation establishing clear time limits and basic standards for temporary holding facilities.” 

You can watch video of Rep. Grijalva entering the facility here. 

You can watch video of Rep. Grijalva’s reaction after touring the facility here.  

The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, a non-profit based in Arizona that provides legal and social services to detained immigrants, has also reported poor conditions at FSF (see full report here): 

  • They expressed concern for being deported without their personal belongings, having been told that they would only get a swift kick in the ass and they should not count on the items that they had been detained with (Cell phone, money, identification, etc.) 
     
  • Multiple people reported they had not been provided with hygiene items since arriving at FDC.  
     
  • Several stated they are not receiving sufficient food during mealtimes and claimed noticeable weight loss.  
     
  • They reported difficulty accessing medical care and stated they were told they would need to be “rolling around on the floor or unconscious” before being seen by medical staff 
     
  • Many women have reported to the Florence Project that dozens of women are being held in cramped conditions in small cells in a trailer, while men have reported that there are around 300 men at any given time being held in large rooms that hold about 60 bunks beds (120 beds total). 
     
  • Research released from Relevant Research, using ICE Integrated Decision Support interval ADP data, shows that ‘As of April 2, 2026, ICE reported an annualized average of 368 detainees at the facility. Using an interval average, the number of detainees detained on that date was likely closer to 436.” 

  • The Vera Institute of Justice also analyzed data collected by the Deportation Data Project, including the daily population of FSF. The data shows that in 2026 (last available data is from March 10, 2026), the population of FSF went up to 750 people on March 10, 2026. The data reflects that from February 5, 2026, through March 10, 2026, the daily population did not drop below 400 people. 

     

  • Men have reported that there are, at times, hundreds more men than available beds. As a result, people are forced to sleep on benches or on the floor with no bedding, sometimes for days. Men have reported that they have not been allowed outside for recreation for days or weeks while detained at FSF and the overflow staging portions of FDC. 

     

  • People with chronic illnesses, like diabetes, have reported not receiving medication for several days or weeks. 

     

  • The Florence Project has heard reports that people could spend days or weeks in the same clothes with no access to laundry while detained in FSF or the overflow staging units in FDC. 

This visit comes after Representative Grijalva’s tour of the Dilley family detention facility in Texas earlier this week, as well as previous visits to facilities in Eloy, Florence, and another short-term holding site in Mesa. Following the visit to the Mesa facility, she introduced legislation alongside Reps. Stanton and Ansari that would ensure that short-term detention sites cannot hold detainees for longer than 12 hours. This is in response to severe overcrowding at the short-term holding site in Mesa, where reports show the number of people detained nearly quadrupled the stated capacity at certain points, with 777 individuals held in a facility with a maximum capacity of 203. This has prompted the Mesa Airport to warn the landlord that leases the facility to ICE to address overcrowding.  

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Issues: Immigration