How US communities have responded to plans to convert warehouses into immigration detention centers
Apr 8, 2026, 9:11 PM
A proposed ICE detention center in a small community in western Maryland known as a destination for weekend bicyclists and Civil War history buffs in Williamsport, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reviewing a plan to transform warehouses across the U.S. into detention facilities for tens of thousands of immigrants.
So far immigration officials have spent a total of $1.074 billion for 11 warehouses. They’ve mostly faced fierce opposition. And days after Mullin was sworn in, the Department of Homeland Security paused the purchase of new warehouses intended to house immigrants. The department is scrutinizing all contracts signed under his predecessor, Kristi Noem.
A look at some of the locations:
Local officials were told nothing before ICE purchased a 418,000-square-foot (38,833-square-meter) warehouse in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise for $70 million, the state’s top prosecutor, Kris Mayes, said in a letter to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Documents later provided by ICE said the Department of Homeland Security plans a processing site with an average daily capacity of 1,000 to 1,500, and a contract worth at least $313.4 million was awarded to transform it.
DHS is now planning something more modest, starting out with 250 people per week and capping occupied beds at 542, according to Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor.
A TV reporter in Orlando spotted private contractors and federal officials in January touring a 439,945-square-foot (40,872-square-meter) industrial warehouse. ICE senior adviser David Venturella told a WFTV reporter the tour was “exploratory.”
As of April, the city still hadn’t heard anything, a spokesperson said in an email.
ICE bought a massive warehouse in Social Circle for $128.6 million. The city said the federal government informed it that the facility is expected to house from 7,500 to 10,000 detainees.
The city is so concerned about the strain on its water supply that it put a lock on the warehouse’s water meter. DHS has suggested trucking in drinking water and trucking out waste, according to a letter from Georgia Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who said the plan was unworkable.
DHS also bought a 540,408-square-foot (50,205-square-meter) warehouse in Oakwood for $68.2 million, a deed shows. City Manager B.R. White said his first inkling that a deal was imminent came when a warehouse supervisor told a city inspector he’d been instructed to clear the job site to make way for the new owners — the federal government.
After the town of Merrillville raised concerns about ICE touring a new 275,000-square-foot (25,548-square-meter) warehouse, owner Opus Holding LLC sent a letter stating it isn’t negotiating with federal officials for the property. The letter said Opus was limited in what it could share because of legal issues.
ICE purchased a warehouse about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Baltimore in Washington County for $102.4 million and signed a contract worth at least $113 million to renovate it. But work is on hold after Maryland’s attorney general sued.
The warehouse has divided the community. County commissioners passed a resolution in support of ICE during a contentious meeting.
After DHS paid $34.7 million for a 250,000-square-foot (23,225-square-meter) warehouse in Romulus, the state and city sued. The suit said the warehouse is in a flood plain, and that the sewage system couldn’t keep up if 500 people are detained inside. It also faults DHS for not considering any of the state’s empty prison facilities and for not talking to state or city officials.
The owners of warehouses in the Minneapolis suburbs of Woodbury and Shakopee pulled out of possible ICE deals after public outcry, according to local officials.
Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker posted that Noem agreed to look elsewhere after local elected and zoning officials opposed a possible detention center in the town of Byhalia.
After weeks of public pressure, development company Platform Ventures announced it would not move forward with the sale of a massive warehouse in Kansas City.
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte said in March that DHS would not move forward with a proposed ICE facility in the town of Merrimack.
Ayotte, a Republican, had sparred with federal officials after ICE disclosed plans to spend $158 million to convert a warehouse in the town into a 500-bed processing center.
The issue came to a head after an ICE official testified that DHS “has worked with Gov. Ayotte” and provided her with an economic impact summary. Ayotte said the summary was not sent until hours after that testimony.
The document erroneously refers to the “ripple effects to the Oklahoma economy” and revenue generated by state sales and income taxes, neither of which exist in New Hampshire.
After DHS bought a 470,044-square-foot (43,669-square-meter) warehouse in Roxbury for $129.3 million, the township and state sued, alleging that federal officials kept them in the dark.
“State and local officials might not have a veto over DHS’s decisions, but this utter lack of communication and consultation flies in the face of federal law,” the suit said.
ICE said it made a mistake when it announced the purchase of a vacant warehouse in Chester. New York state Assemblyman Brian Maher later said ICE was no longer considering the facility.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt announced in January that property owners had informed him they are no longer engaged with DHS about a potential acquisition or lease of a warehouse.
DHS purchased a warehouse in Tremont Township for $119.5 million and one in Upper Bern Township for $87.4 million. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has said his administration will fight DHS’ plans. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection has barred water and sewage from being supplied to them for now.
ICE mistakenly announced it had completed the purchase of a warehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee.
The sheriff, Robert Bryan, wrote that a facility of the size and scope being discussed — 14,000 to 16,000 detainees — would “significantly impact local law enforcement resources.” And the mayor, Rick Bell, wrote that as a conservative Republican, he supports a secure border but that his town “is not the place.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn later announced that the deal was dead.
In the El Paso suburb of Socorro, ICE paid $122.8 million for a trio of warehouses that span 826,780 square feet (76,810 square meters). ICE also paid $66.1 million for a 639,595-square-foot (59,420-square-meter) warehouse in San Antonio. The mayors of both cities are opposed. Socorro officials — like others — have questioned water supplies. As of April, San Antonio still had heard nothing from DHS.
However, another deal in the state was scuttled following community backlash. In the Dallas suburb of Hutchins, a real estate company confirmed that it was contacted about one of its properties but wouldn’t sell or lease any buildings to DHS for use as a detention facility. California-based Majestic Realty Co. provided no explanation in its statement.
DHS bought an 833,280-square-foot (77,414-square-meter) warehouse in Salt Lake City for $145.4 million without notifying the city’s Democratic leaders or the state’s Republican governor or congressional delegation. Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement released in March that ICE officials later told her that the facility will house 7,500 to 10,000 people.
The city has moved to cap water use at just a fraction of what would be needed to operate the warehouse as a detention site.
The sale of the warehouse came two months after the owner of another Salt Lake City warehouse announced plans not to sell or lease to the federal government amid protests.
Following boycott threats, Jim Pattison Developments announced in January that it would not proceed with a planned sale of a warehouse in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia. It said it was not aware of the intended use until after it agreed to the sale.
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Associated Press reporters Holly Ramer, Isabella Volmert and Marc Levy contributed to this report.
