ICE spent $1 billion on detention warehouses without notifying states or Congress
Contracts for 30,000 new detention beds were signed in secret over six weeks
The Trump administration spent $1.074 billion to purchase 11 massive warehouses across the country in early 2026, a secret expansion project designed to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention capacity. The plan called for eight mega-centers capable of holding 7,000 to 10,000 migrants, plus 16 smaller regional processing centers and 10 converted existing detention facilities. The entire $38.3 billion expansion aimed to support what ICE called its capacity to effectuate mass deportations.
Warehouses were purchased in Salt Lake City, Surprise Arizona, Social Circle Georgia, Socorro Texas, Roxbury New Jersey, Washington County Maryland, and other locations. Purchases occurred quietly between February and March 2026. Officials made these acquisitions without meaningful community consultation or transparency. PBS NewsHour Spotlight PA
Key Concepts
Essential concepts and terms to understand this topic
Countering Wrongful Detention Act
A 2025 law authorizing the State Department to sanction countries that wrongfully detain Americans.
ICE Enforcement Powers
The legal authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to investigate, detain, and deport individuals suspected of violating immigration laws.
Immigration Enforcement
Government actions to enforce immigration laws, including deportation, detention, border enforcement, and workplace raids.
Section 287(g) Agreement
A federal program that deputizes local law enforcement officers to perform immigration enforcement functions under ICE supervision.
Mass Incarceration
The dramatic increase in U.S. prison and jail populations since the 1970s, driven by mandatory minimum sentences, the Wa...
Administrative Warrant
Document issued by an agency official authorizing arrest or enforcement action without judicial review.
Eminent Domain
Government can take private property for public use with payment.
Immigration Sanctuary Cities
Jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Solitary Confinement
Isolation of prisoners from human contact, sometimes for years
Sanctuary City
Cities that limit local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration agents to protect residents from ICE enforcement.
Key People
9
Kristi Noem
Homeland Security Secretary (February through early March 2026)
Noem led the warehouse acquisition strategy that spent $1.074 billion on 11 facilities in six weeks, prioritizing speed over transparency and community notification. She pushed the program forward without consulting governors, mayors, state attorneys general, or congressional representatives in the affected states. President Trump removed her on March 5, 2026. Her contracts and acquisition decisions were subsequently reviewed by her successor.
Markwayne Mullin
Homeland Security Secretary (confirmed March 23, 2026)
Mullin paused all new warehouse purchases within days of taking office in late March 2026 and ordered comprehensive reviews of Noem-era contracts. His team found evidence of dramatic overpayment across multiple facilities, including a $48.4 million gap between the Salt Lake City purchase price and the property's tax-assessed value. He implemented new approval requirements for contracts exceeding $25 million.
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Erin Mendenhall
Mayor of Salt Lake City
Mendenhall led the most organized local opposition to any of the detention facilities, declaring a detention center does not belong in Salt Lake City and directing the city council to cap water use at 200,000 gallons daily for large government facilities. An ICE mega-center housing 10,000 people would require one to two million gallons daily. The water cap was the most technically specific local obstruction measure any jurisdiction enacted.
Spencer Cox
Governor of Utah (Republican)
Cox learned of the $145.4 million Salt Lake City warehouse purchase only after the transaction closed, having received no notification from federal officials beforehand. His after-the-fact discovery became the most-cited example of the federal government's deliberate exclusion of state elected officials from the acquisition process, and he publicly opposed the detention facility in his state.
Roger Wicker
U.S. Senator (R-Miss.)
Wicker opposed ICE's plan to convert a warehouse in Byhalia, Mississippi into an 8,500-bed detention center, arguing it would foreclose economic development opportunities for the community. His opposition made him the most prominent Republican senator to publicly push back against the detention expansion program — crossing the administration on an issue the White House considered central to its immigration enforcement agenda.
KA
Kelly Ayotte
Governor of New Hampshire (Republican)
Ayotte opposed the ICE detention facility planned for Merrimack, New Hampshire, and secured a DHS agreement to abandon the New Hampshire plan entirely. Her success in reversing the federal decision made the New Hampshire situation the only outright cancellation achieved through gubernatorial pressure rather than litigation.
Josh Shapiro
Governor of Pennsylvania (Democrat)
Shapiro sent a letter to Noem promising his administration would aggressively pursue every option to prevent detention facilities from opening in Pennsylvania. He directed the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue orders blocking water and sewage connections for two Pennsylvania sites until ICE submitted detailed infrastructure plans. A 7,500-person facility planned for Tremont Township would have required more than tripling the local sewage system's current 4,000-person capacity.
Mikie Sherrill
Governor of New Jersey (Democrat)
Sherrill led the most formal legal challenge, filing a 67-page federal lawsuit on March 20, 2026, against the Roxbury, New Jersey detention facility. The suit argued ICE violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Roxbury warehouse had only four toilets for a building designed to hold 1,500 people and would have multiplied wastewater flows 15 times over the current approved limit.
Jennifer Davenport
New Jersey Attorney General
Davenport was co-plaintiff alongside Governor Sherrill in the March 20, 2026 federal lawsuit challenging the Roxbury detention facility. As the state's chief legal officer, she provided the statutory arguments about federal regulatory violations and coordinated with other state attorneys general tracking the detention expansion program.
Claims & Perspectives
True
True
The federal government spent $1.074 billion to purchase 11 warehouses in early 2026.
Multiple news sources confirmed ICE purchased 11 warehouses for $1.074 billion across multiple states.
True
The Salt Lake City warehouse was purchased for $145.4 million but valued at only $97 million.
Tax assessors valued the property at $97 million. Federal officials paid $145.4 million, a $48.4 million overpayment.
True
GardaWorld was awarded a $313 million contract without competitive bidding.
GardaWorld had never directly managed a detention facility yet won the $313 million contract without competitive bidding.
True
Roxbury facility contained only four toilets for 1,500 people.
According to New Jersey's lawsuit, the Roxbury warehouse contained only four toilets.
Sources
True
The detention expansion was part of a $38.3 billion initiative aiming for 92,600 beds.
The ICE detention expansion plan aimed for 92,600 beds by September 2026 as part of a $38.3 billion initiative.
What you can do
Contact your state governor about ICE detention facility proposals
civic action
Communities can force their elected officials to take action through constituent pressure.
Use environmental and infrastructure regulations to block detention facilities
civic action
Communities can use existing environmental law and water/sewage ordinances.