ICE Proposes $38B Warehouse Conversion to Expand Immigration Detention Network

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to spend $38.3 billion to buy and convert warehouses and other “non‑traditional” buildings into a new national network of immigration detention centers capable of holding about 92,600 people, according to planning documents released this week.axios +1 The proposal marked one of the largest single expansions of civil detention in modern U.S. history and drew immediate fire from civil‑rights groups and local officials in communities targeted for new sites.washingtonpost +1

The Department of Homeland Security documents outlined a system built around eight so‑called “mega centers,” each designed to detain 7,000 to 10,000 people for an average of 60 days, and 16 regional processing centers with space for 1,000 to 1,500 people apiece for shorter stays of three to seven days.axios +1 Officials framed the plan as essential infrastructure for President Donald Trump’s second‑term pledge to deport millions of noncitizens and to sharply reduce releases of migrants while their cases move through immigration courts.axios +1

Inside the $38 Billion Warehouse-to-Jail Conversion

Unlike earlier immigration‑detention growth that leaned heavily on leasing existing private prisons and county jails, the new blueprint emphasized federal ownership of converted industrial buildings, with private contractors hired mainly to operate the facilities.axios +1 ICE memos described the strategy as a “new detention center model” that would “ensure the safe and humane civil detention of aliens in ICE custody, while helping ICE effectuate mass deportations.”axios

One illustrative project in Merrimack, New Hampshire, carried an estimated $158 million price tag for retrofitting a large warehouse and about $146 million in operating costs over the first three years, with DHS touting roughly 1,252 new local jobs and about $300 million in three‑year spending in the area.axios +1 Overall, the $38.3 billion outlay was tied to roughly $45 billion Congress had already appropriated for detention and enforcement in the 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which dedicated more than $170 billion over four years to border and interior enforcement programs.washingtonpost +1 ICE has already been holding record numbers of people—around 59,000 on a typical day in 2025, nearly half with no criminal record—making additional capacity central to the administration’s enforcement goals.theguardian

Mounting Legal and Local Resistance

The scale and design of the network immediately intensified political and legal challenges surrounding immigration detention. Documents obtained through ACLU Freedom of Information Act litigation showed ICE “actively considering” at least seven new sites, including former prisons with documented histories of violence, sexual abuse, and medical neglect.wionews The ACLU also reported that six people died in ICE custody in the first three weeks of 2026, warning that “more beds will mean more abuse and preventable deaths.”wionews Civil‑rights groups labeled the program a “deportation‑industrial complex,” while local residents and officials in both Republican‑ and Democratic‑leaning areas organized protests, raised zoning objections, and urged warehouse owners to walk away from potential sales.washingtonpost +1

In federal courts, judges have already been chipping away at the administration’s broader mandatory‑detention strategy that underpins the expansion. A review by Politico found that 308 judges ordered release or bond hearings in about 1,600 cases, rejecting the government’s position that many migrants must be held without individualized review, while only 14 judges sided with the administration’s view of its detention powers.bloomberg One New York judge wrote that his court had been “flooded with petitions for relief with similar stories — families ripped apart, and people who pose no danger or risk of fleeing imprisoned with no end in sight.”bloomberg Those rulings, alongside ongoing FOIA suits and potential class actions, signaled that even if ICE secures the buildings and funding, fully using the new capacity could be constrained by due‑process challenges and local pushback.

The Bigger Picture

The warehouse conversion plan underscored how central mass detention has become to U.S. immigration policy, shifting the system toward high‑volume, industrial‑scale custody just as courts, communities, and lawmakers are increasingly questioning the legal and moral boundaries of that approach.axios +2 With billions already appropriated and properties under active negotiation, the contest over these “mega‑jails” is likely to play out not just in Washington budget fights but in zoning boards, federal courtrooms, and town halls across the country, where the human and financial costs of expanding detention will be most visible.