Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is acquiring and converting warehouses around the U.S. into immigrant detention centers despite concern and pushback from local communities, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A document released in mid-February revealed that ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion to expand detention capacity to 92,600 beds, including 16 regional processing centers housing 1,000 to 1,500 detainees for average stays of three to seven days, as well as eight large-scale detention centers capable of holding 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods typically under 60 days.
Plans call for all of them to be up and running by November as immigration officials roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by President Donald Trump’s recent tax-cutting law.
ICE has since purchased at least 11 mostly new or empty warehouses, including a 1 million-square-foot warehouse about 45 miles east of Atlanta for $129 million.
On average, the agency is paying between 11% and 13% above asking price, according to a CoStar report.
Local governments worry about losing tax revenue — the federal government doesn’t pay local property and other taxes on real estate it owns — and covering infrastructure costs for new centers.
And residents say new facilities would overwhelm local resources.
ICE "is not treating these assets as real-estate investments or as the typical market would view or price them," said Juan Arias, an industrial property analyst at CoStar.
An ICE spokesman told the Journal that appraisals "are independently reviewed and approved by a government appraiser to establish the fair market value of the property and serves as the basis of our purchase price of the property."
ICE has deported more than 675,000 immigrants since Trump took office in January 2025, according to Homeland Security officials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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