The new round of federal efforts to expand immigration detention capacity using warehouse conversions has run into sustained local resistance, with officials in multiple states describing delayed or missing consultation even as the Department of Homeland Security moves to expand and review the plans. The Associated Press reported that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reviewing a plan to transform warehouses across the United States into detention facilities for tens of thousands of immigrants, and that DHS paused the purchase of additional warehouses days after Mullin was sworn in while it scrutinizes contracts signed under Kristi Noem. The review and pause are unfolding alongside a patchwork of state and local disputes over individual sites.
So far, immigration officials have spent $1.074 billion for 11 warehouses, according to the AP report. Across the country, local and state officials have said they were not told in advance, have argued that facility plans are unrealistic for local utilities and services, or have moved to block deals through lawsuits, resolutions, or changes in municipal engagement.
The dispute in Arizona highlights both the scale of some acquisitions and the shifting description of capacity. AP reported that Arizona officials said they were not told before ICE purchased a 418,000-square-foot warehouse in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise for $70 million. The state’s top prosecutor, Kris Mayes, said in a letter that ICE documents provided later described an intended processing site with average daily capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 and at least a $313.4 million contract to transform the site. AP also reported that DHS is now planning a more modest initial approach described by Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor, starting with 250 people per week and capping occupied beds at 542.
In Florida, AP said a TV reporter in Orlando spotted private contractors and federal officials touring a 439,945-square-foot industrial warehouse in January, and that ICE senior adviser David Venturella told a WFTV reporter the tour was “exploratory.” As of April, AP reported, the city still had not heard anything from DHS, according to a spokesperson’s email.
Georgia officials raised concerns about expected detainee numbers and infrastructure strain at planned sites. AP said ICE bought a massive warehouse in Social Circle for $128.6 million, and that the city said the federal government told it the facility was expected to house between 7,500 and 10,000 detainees. AP also reported that because of concern about strain on the city’s water supply, the city put a lock on the warehouse’s water meter; DHS suggested trucking in drinking water and trucking out waste, according to letters from Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff that said the plan was unworkable.
The Social Circle dispute is not the only Georgia procurement described in the AP report. AP said DHS also bought a 540,408-square-foot warehouse in Oakwood for $68.2 million, and that a city manager first learned of the deal when a warehouse supervisor told a city inspector he had been instructed to clear the job site to make way for the federal government.
In Maryland, the AP report described both the financial scale of one acquisition and the legal challenge that has kept the project paused. AP said ICE purchased a warehouse about 60 miles northwest of Baltimore in Washington County for $102.4 million and signed a contract worth at least $113 million to renovate it. The report said work is on hold after Maryland’s attorney general sued, and that the warehouse plan has divided the community, with county commissioners passing a resolution in support of ICE during a contentious meeting.
Other states also described efforts to block or halt specific warehouse deals, including lawsuits over environmental or procedural concerns. In Michigan, AP said after DHS paid $34.7 million for a 250,000-square-foot warehouse in Romulus, the state and city sued, arguing the warehouse is in a flood plain and that the sewage system could not handle impacts if 500 people are detained inside, while also faulting DHS for not considering empty state prison facilities and for not talking with state and city officials. In New Jersey, AP reported that after DHS bought a 470,044-square-foot warehouse in Roxbury for $129.3 million, the township and state sued alleging federal officials kept them in the dark.
While some local officials have sought to resist warehouse conversions through litigation or public measures, others described deals being suspended or abandoned after community pressure. AP reported that in Minnesota, warehouse owners in Woodbury and Shakopee pulled out of possible ICE deals after public outcry. In Missouri, AP said development company Platform Ventures announced it would not move forward with the sale of a massive warehouse in Kansas City after weeks of public pressure.
As the federal review continues, individual cases described by AP show the breadth of opposition—ranging from concerns about capacity and infrastructure to accusations that communities were not informed or consulted before federal steps were taken. The AP report also highlighted disputes in several other states, including New Hampshire, where Gov. Kelly Ayotte said DHS would not move forward with a proposed ICE facility in Merrimack, and Tennessee, where AP reported that ICE had mistakenly announced a purchase in Lebanon and that subsequent statements by local and state officials helped push the deal to dead status.
The AP report concluded that officials are negotiating a second round of decisions while DHS looks back at how contracts were awarded during the prior administration, as Mullin’s review proceeds. In that context, the warehouse conflicts in multiple communities underscore that the question is not only whether federal agencies can secure sites, but also whether the process for doing so withstands scrutiny from local governments and state officials.