Washington, Feb 1 (.) The Trump administration’s push to dramatically expand immigration detention is fuelling a wave of protests nationwide as Immigration and Customs Enforcement moves to buy commercial warehouses and convert them into detention centers.
The Department of Homeland Security has quietly scouted dozens of warehouse sites across the country, some capable of holding as many as 9,500 detainees each.
Many of the buildings were originally designed for e-commerce distribution. If fully developed, the plan would mark the largest expansion of immigration detention capacity in US history.
The effort is being driven by a sharp rise in detentions. ICE’s detained population has nearly doubled over the past year, exposing capacity limits that officials say hinder mass deportations.
With $45 billion now available under Trump’s recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill,” the administration has begun spending hundreds of millions of dollars to rapidly expand bed space.
Last year, the administration relied on temporary tent camps in remote locations such as the Florida Everglades and an Army base in Texas. The shift toward permanent warehouse facilities in towns and cities has intensified opposition.
Residents and local officials are raising concerns about immigration policy as well as zoning, infrastructure strain, water and sewer capacity, and proximity to schools and neighbourhoods.
According to reports, ICE is planning up to 23 warehouse-based detention sites, ranging from 500 to 9,500 beds. The largest would rival or exceed existing detention centers nationwide. To administration plans to detain an deport at least 1 million people annually, for which, ICE would need at least more than a 100,000 detention beds.
While not quite there, the agency is close to its goal, given that ICE currently holds more than 73,000 people, already a record in and of itself. If fully built out, the new facilities could add roughly 76,500 beds.
Protests have flared in multiple states. In Hanover County, Virginia, residents packed a Board of Supervisors meeting to oppose a proposed $50 million warehouse purchase.
In Hagerstown, Maryland, hundreds of protesters gathered outside another newly acquired facility alongside Senator Chris Van Hollen, a vocal critic of ICE expansion, who slammed the group, labelling them akin to bandits and hooligans. Similar scenes have played out in other states including Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire and New York.
Public backlash has intensified significantly amid broader controversy surrounding ICE enforcement, including the fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis in January.
The incident prompted some tactical recalibration by the administration, though the “border czar” Tom Homan has insisted the changes do not signal any retreat from Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
AS per financial records cited by Bloomberg, DHS has already spent more than $170 million on properties in Maryland and Arizona alone. Smaller facilities are expected to hold about 500 people, while the largest would detain between 7,500 and 9,500.
By purchasing facilities directly, the federal government reduces the ability of state and local authorities to block or delay the projects.
Previous strategies to expand capacity have included deals with local jails and contracts with private prison companies such as GEO Group and CoreCivic, both of which say they still have unused capacity.
As of early January, ICE was holding nearly 70,000 people in detention. The agency is required to update Congress on these figures every two months, even as its rapid expansion plans continue to spark resistance across the country. . . .