U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is retreating from a plan to use warehouses to hold up to 10,000 people on a single site, jettisoning a key piece of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's $38-billion plan to rapidly expand detention capacity this year.
Federal officials informed a judge Monday that a warehouse purchased in Romulus, Michigan will be sold. Plans are also unraveling in Social Circle, Georgia and the El Paso suburb of Socorro, local officials said. The federal government spent a combined $1.074 billion on warehouses across 11 cities, according to records reviewed by news outlets.
After Noem was fired, her replacement, Markwayne Mullin, quickly paused the purchase of new warehouses. Some communities opposed facilities on moral grounds or questioned whether they would be a drain on local resources such as sewer and water systems. Seven federal lawsuits were filed, and regulatory roadblocks created hassles elsewhere.
Questions about how much DHS paid for some warehouses triggered an internal audit. The agency shelled out double what one New Jersey warehouse was valued at in tax records and nearly five times more than the assessed value of a Social Circle warehouse.
What the Left Is Saying
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat who filed suit over the Romulus facility, called it an "abomination" that the 249,000-square-foot warehouse would have been transformed into immigrant detention as originally planned. "The ICE warehouse proposal was every bit as ill-conceived as it was cruel and unnecessary, and I am relieved that this chapter is coming to a close," Nessel said.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat who represents El Paso, said during a news conference that ICE no longer plans to detain up to 8,500 immigrants in the Socorro facilities as originally envisioned. She said the site will instead be converted into an ICE campus with offices and training space, along with an unspecified smaller number of detainees.
Patrick Dattilio, founder of Hagerstown Rapid Response, which formed in opposition to housing ICE detainees at a Maryland warehouse, said his group remains committed to keeping the facility from opening. "It's a big warehouse," Dattilio told reporters. "It's not meant for people."
What the Right Is Saying
Social Circle, Georgia announced last week that it received notification from U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican, that DHS is no longer pursuing an ICE detention facility there.
In Pennsylvania, where two warehouses face state denial of permits over drinking water and sewer concerns, Rep. Dan Meuser said he met Friday with DHS personnel about the facilities in his district. "The agency hadn't made a decision whether to use them as detention centers or sell them," Meuser noted.
At his confirmation hearing, Mullin acknowledged there had been issues with the warehouse expansion plans, noting that most municipalities lack capacity in their infrastructure for waste and water. Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official under multiple administrations, said large facilities create operational challenges. "Facilities over 2,000 people just break down," she noted. "It's very hard to run a very big facility, to keep it staffed, to keep all of it moving."
What the Numbers Show
The federal government spent $1.074 billion on warehouses across 11 cities as part of Noem's expansion plan.
Federal officials now plan to offload seven of those 11 facilities, either giving them to other agencies or selling them outright.
Key purchase prices include: Salt Lake City warehouse at $145.4 million (most expensive); Socorro warehouses at $122 million combined; Romulus facility at $34.7 million for 249,000 square feet.
DHS paid double the tax-assessed value for one New Jersey warehouse and nearly five times the assessed value of the Social Circle property, according to records cited in reporting.
The Romulus warehouse was planned to hold up to 10,000 detainees; the Socorro facilities were initially envisioned for up to 8,500 immigrants.
The Bottom Line
DHS said it is "moving swiftly to utilize existing detention space with our state and county partners," signaling a pivot away from large-scale warehouse conversions toward contracted detention facilities.
In Maryland, a judge extended a stoppage on transforming a warehouse into a processing facility while ICE collects public comments about environmental impacts. Pennsylvania's permit denials remain in place for two warehouses there, leaving their future uncertain.
Oakwood, Georgia City Manager B.R. White said he is working with the state congressional delegation to confirm rumors that a local warehouse will be sold. "I have not heard anything yet," White said Tuesday.
Communities that opposed the facilities say they continue to struggle getting information about potential sales from federal officials.