Trump Administration Eyes Warehouses as New Immigration Detention Centers
New documents shed light on the Trump administration’s plans to turn more warehouses into detention centers to house illegal immigrants as they await the fate of their cases.
The plan states that the centers are necessary as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prepares for an expected surge of arrests in 2026 after the hiring of 12,000 additional officers.
"This new model will allow ICE to create an efficient detention network by reducing the total number of contracted detention facilities in use while increasing total bed capacity, enhancing custody management, and streamlining removal operations," reads one of the documents.
Detention Center Details
According to the Washington Post, ICE plans to spend about $38 billion buying warehouses across the nation and retrofitting them into detention centers. 16 of those buildings would serve as regional processing centers holding about 1,000 to 1,500 detainees. Another eight large scale centers would hold 7,000 to 10,000 detainees. The money comes from funding obtained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
The documents were posted by the office of New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) as ICE weighs making a purchase of an existing warehouse in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
In the New Hampshire case, ICE would spend $158 million to retrofit the facility and $146 million to operate the facility. ICE estimates it would create 1,252 jobs during the retrofitting and up to 265 jobs each year of operation.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post says ICE spent nearly $700 million buying at least eight industrial buildings around the country in Maryland, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and Michigan. ICE also confirmed interest in buildings in Georgia, New York, and New Jersey.
Communities Try to Stop Centers
Meanwhile communities around the nation are fighting the proposed centers.
Kansas City, Missouri, for example, passed an ordinance banning the construction of any new detention centers.
"We would use every legal tool possible in the zoning process to ensure that this moratorium is valid," said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D).
And in Dallas, Texas, the owners of a million square-foot warehouse said they will not sell or lease the building to ICE.