The company tasked with preparing a warehouse in Surprise for Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking employees to staff the federal agency's planned processing facility for immigrant detainees.
GardaWorld Federal, a private security firm, has posted over a dozen full-time positions to staff the building near Dysart Road and Sweetwater Avenue. The jobs target a variety of anticipated needs, including security and detention services, medical staff and building maintenance.
Depending on the job, the positions range in education and experience requirements, and pay spans from about $23 to $68 an hour. The highest paid position was for a nurse manager.
DHS initially planned to open the facility by September, but later told Surprise leaders that was unlikely. GardaWorld's job postings say the company was "building a pipeline" for the roles, with an expected start date later in 2026.
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The first positions, unarmed and armed security guards, were posted near the end of April. But the remaining jobs were posted beginning the week of May 11.
Between late April and mid-May, DHS issued a stop-work order on GardaWorld's contract, Arizona sued to block the facility from coming to fruition and the order halting work was rescinded.
An unidentified spokesperson for DHS did not answer in an email why the order was issued in the first place, what led to its revocation, or the terms of a "supplemental agreement" listed alongside the retraction.
The spokesperson instead shared a copy-and-paste response from past inquiries about the facility. It said the agency was reviewing its policies and proposals and how Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said he wants to work with community leaders and be "good partners." GardaWorld Federal did not return a request for comment.
DHS, under its former director Kristi Noem, quietly purchased the 418,000-square-foot building in Surprise for over $70 million in January. ICE first said it would hold up to 1,500 beds, but that number was later slashed to about 545. It was one of several purchases made across the nation as the department sought to expand detention space.
The plans took city and state leaders by surprise and drew local outcry.
A fence wraps around the warehouse ICE owns in Surprise. The building is being converted into a center for processing immigrant detainees.
Things shifted on April 24 when Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the conversion of the warehouse. In court filings, she argued DHS's plans violate federal environmental and immigration laws, saying people need be housed in "appropriate" places. The building is across the street from a facility that stores hazardous chemicals.
Work on the warehouse appeared to have already begun. GardaWorld employees were seen there, and fences were installed around the building.
DHS awarded the company, which is tied to Florida's controversial "Alligator Alcatraz," a one-year, $313.4 million contract in March. It could be extended to February 2029, and GardaWorld could receive up to $704 million.
GardaWorld was tasked with renovating the space and providing all "necessary wraparound services" for the facility's operation. The contract says over $305 million is allocated toward construction and improvements, while $7.7 million was for operations and support, according to the federal government spending website USAspending.gov.
Brent Peak, co-chair of Northwest Valley Indivisible, said he wants to know how exactly the $305 million would be spent to prepare ICE's center. The liberal activist group has been at the forefront of advocating against the facility and how it was in proximity to the chemical warehouse.
"I'm hoping they're gonna do whatever it takes to keep detainees safe," he said, adding that the building was in a "horrible" location due to the chemical facility.
But DHS was being uncommunicative, he said, and many in the community don't trust the few answers the department has already shared about the site.
The processing center was expected to hold single adults who would stay between three and seven days there before being transferred to a "mega site" in El Paso or Salt Lake City, or taken to their home country, according to details DHS shared with Surprise city leaders.
DHS proposed medical stations, recreation zones, a cafeteria and private meeting rooms for family visits and legal counseling, according to Mayor Kevin Sartor.
Across the board, GardaWorld requires applicants in its batch of job openings to be at least 21 years old, have a clean criminal record and can either prove their U.S. citizenship or show they are legally allowed to work in the U.S. The postings also say employees may be exposed to "toxic or caustic chemicals," various weather conditions, fumes, airborne particles and loud noise.
