The Trump administration has begun dismantling one of the most ambitious initiatives designed to support its mass deportation agenda. A report by The New York Times revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to sell or transfer to other federal agencies seven of the 11 industrial warehouses it purchased over the past year to convert into immigrant detention centers. The decision marks a significant reversal for a project that had already cost nearly $1 billion and was intended to fundamentally reshape the U.S. immigration detention system.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed this week that it will prioritize the use of existing facilities operated in partnership with state and local governments rather than move forward with most of the warehouse conversion projects championed by former DHS secretary Kristi Noem.
In a statement, the agency defended the shift in strategy, saying that “These heinous criminals, once arrested, should be removed at lightning speed, not housed on American soil at the taxpayer’s expense.” DHS also said it would continue evaluating the most effective methods to accelerate deportations and expand the use of detention space already available.
The decision represents a setback for the so-called ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative, a $38 billion plan aimed at consolidating the current system of more than 200 detention facilities — most operated by private contractors or local governments — into a smaller network of 34 federally owned sites. As part of that effort, ICE acquired 11 warehouses across the country in an attempt to expand its capacity to detain immigrants while their deportation cases were being processed.
Supporters of the project argued that increasing detention bed capacity was essential to fulfilling Trump’s campaign promises of mass deportations. Available detention space has long been one of the primary constraints on large-scale immigration enforcement operations, since immigrants slated for removal are typically arrested, processed, and held by ICE before being deported.
The expansion of detention infrastructure became even more important after Congress approved additional funding for immigration enforcement. Administration officials had floated the possibility of reaching a capacity of up to 100,000 detention beds, far above current levels. But converting industrial warehouses into facilities capable of housing hundreds or thousands of people proved more complicated and expensive than anticipated.
The projects also encountered significant resistance across the country. Communities in Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia and Utah challenged plans to transform large warehouses into detention centers, citing concerns about public services, local infrastructure, and environmental impacts. Lawsuits multiplied, and several judges ordered work to be suspended or limited while courts examined whether the federal government had complied with environmental review requirements.
One of the most visible disputes unfolded in Romulus, a city in the Detroit metropolitan area, where ICE had purchased a warehouse expected to hold about 500 detainees. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who sued the federal government alongside local officials to block the project, welcomed the decision to dispose of the facility and credited community and legal pressure for the outcome. “They tried to buy time, but they ran out of options, and now they have completely broken under the pressure of our lawsuit,” she said.
Legal challenges also affected other projects. In Maryland, a judge temporarily blocked construction work at a facility purchased for nearly $100 million, while in New Jersey and Michigan ICE agreed in court not to proceed until additional environmental reviews were completed. At the same time, the DHS’s inspector general launched an investigation into whether the program met a legitimate operational need and was being carried out efficiently.
The review of the strategy began after Noem’s departure and the arrival of Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security secretary. According to documents obtained by The New York Times, the agency plans to dispose of facilities in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Utah while continuing work on four others in Texas, Arizona, and Maryland. ICE is also exploring the purchase of existing detention centers owned by private prison companies with which it already contracts.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
