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Records Show ICE Fast-Tracking Warehouse Conversions as Communities Push Back

Documents confirm a plan totaling tens of billions for roughly 92,000 beds.

Overview

  • An internal ICE plan outlines $38 billion to reengineer detention through FY 2026, adding eight mega facilities, 16 regional processing centers, and 10 turnkey sites for a total of about 92,000–92,600 beds.
  • Public deeds confirm at least seven warehouse purchases across Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas, including Socorro ($122.8 million for 826,780 square feet) and Social Circle ($128.6 million).
  • ICE acknowledged errors in announcing some locations, yet Roxbury, New Jersey, reported its sale closed days after the agency called that purchase a mistake.
  • Local leaders say they were not informed before acquisitions and warn of lost property taxes and strained utilities, citing figures such as $529,000 in annual revenue at risk in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and more than $800,000 in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
  • Resistance is mounting as owners and developers withdraw from deals in places like the Minneapolis suburbs, Kansas City, and Hutchins, Texas, while Arizona’s attorney general weighs a nuisance suit and Pennsylvania’s governor pledges to fight planned conversions.