Representatives Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) have introduced legislation to reestablish a 12-hour holding limit in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities.
In June 2025, ICE announced it would waive the 12-hour holding limit in detention facilities and extend it to 72 hours, absent "exceptional circumstances."
Earlier in April, Reps. Stanton, Ansari, and Grijalva made an unannounced visit to the ICE detention facility in Mesa, where they alleged that detainees were sleeping on bare concrete floors without beds or bedding; confided in conditions so cramped that people could not sit or move freely; and denied adequate access to showers, toilets, and drinking water – conditions they warned would become increasingly dangerous as Arizona heads into summer.
As a result, the Short-Term Holding Facilities Standards Restoration Act reestablishes the 12-hour holding limit and requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to document and justify any extended detention and to ensure humane conditions in holding facilities, thereby strengthening oversight by mandating recordkeeping, annual reporting to Congress, and periodic audits by the DHS Inspector General.
"It's clear that massive overcrowding and stays beyond the facility's intended short-term holding period are standard operating procedure under Trump's mass deportation agenda," said Rep. Stanton in a press release. "This legislation brings these facilities back in line with their intended use."
Rep. Ansari added, "What I've witnessed at the Mesa Gateway Airport short-term holding facility in Arizona is a display of disgusting cruelty."
"People are packed together like sardines in inhumane conditions and held far beyond the time these facilities are meant for," Rep. Ansari continued. "Our legislation places a 12-hour limit on short-term detention and brings transparency and accountability to these shocking facilities directed by Donald Trump and Stephen Miller."
Rep. Grijalva commented, "What we saw at AROCC wasn't just overcrowding — it was a failure of basic humanity. No one should be forced to sleep on concrete floors or share a toilet in full view of dozens of others in confined spaces never meant for prolonged detention. This bill restores commonsense limits, strengthens oversight, and makes clear that humane treatment is not optional — it's the law."
