The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly preparing to transfer or sell seven warehouses bought for ICE detention expansion after the costly conversion plan ran into infrastructure, legal and local opposition.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly backing away from a major migrant detention expansion plan involving seven warehouses purchased for more than $700 million, marking a shift in how the agency intends to increase detention capacity for immigration enforcement.
The warehouses were part of a broader Immigration and Customs Enforcement effort launched under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to convert vacant industrial properties into large-scale detention centers and processing hubs.
ICE bought 11 vacant warehouses over the past year for more than $1 billion as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. The properties were intended to house tens of thousands of detainees once converted for federal immigration use.
But documents obtained by The New York Times show ICE now plans to dispose of seven of those properties. The sites are located in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Utah and New Jersey.
The agency is expected to either transfer the warehouses to other federal agencies or sell them outright.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin paused the warehouse conversion initiative shortly after succeeding Noem earlier this year.
Mullin has reportedly favored using existing detention space operated by state and local partners rather than spending heavily to convert warehouses that were not originally designed to hold detainees.
“D.H.S. is moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners,” the department said in a statement cited by both reports.
The warehouse strategy quickly encountered practical and legal problems.
Critics said many of the sites lacked the zoning, plumbing, water capacity and other infrastructure required to safely house large numbers of people. Local opposition also grew in communities where warehouse conversions were proposed.
Environmental lawsuits and regulatory hurdles further delayed the plan. The DHS inspector general has also opened an investigation into the warehouse acquisition program, adding scrutiny to how the properties were selected and purchased.
Federal judges have intervened in some cases. One judge blocked work at a warehouse detention site in Maryland.
Four warehouse facilities in Texas, Arizona and Maryland are still expected to proceed, though their future remains uncertain because of continuing legal challenges and questions about cost.
ICE is also reportedly considering buying existing detention centers from private prison operators.
The change follows earlier reporting that Mullin had ordered a broad review of spending decisions made under Noem’s leadership while maintaining support for Trump’s immigration enforcement priorities. That review was previously reported.
Mullin has reportedly focused on alternatives that can be opened faster and at lower cost, including closed county jails and unused state facilities.
The decision to offload seven warehouses raises questions about how ICE will meet detention capacity goals while managing legal challenges, infrastructure limits, spending concerns and opposition from affected communities.
The retreat from the warehouse plan does not signal an end to the administration’s detention expansion goals. Instead, it suggests DHS is shifting toward facilities that already have detention infrastructure in place rather than converting large industrial buildings into immigration holding centers.
Original article
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