Communities Across the US Fight Back Against ICE’s Warehouse Detention Plans

The Department of Homeland Security’s push to turn sprawling warehouses into immigration detention centers is running headfirst into a wall of opposition from communities across the country. Since purchasing over $1 billion worth of industrial properties, ICE and DHS have faced lawsuits, public outcry, and political blowback, forcing a pause and review under new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

In Arizona’s Phoenix suburb of Surprise, officials were blindsided when ICE bought a 418,000-square-foot warehouse for $70 million with plans to house up to 1,500 detainees daily. After local uproar, the plan was scaled back to a fraction of that size, with Surprise’s mayor confirming a cap at 542 beds.

Georgia’s Social Circle is grappling with the prospect of housing 7,500 to 10,000 detainees in a warehouse the federal government bought for $128.6 million. The city locked the warehouse’s water meter amid fears about the strain on local water supplies. Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have called the federal plan to truck in water and haul out waste “unworkable.”

Maryland’s Washington County is divided over a $102.4 million warehouse purchase, with the state’s attorney general suing to halt renovations. Michigan’s Romulus filed suit over a warehouse in a flood plain with inadequate sewage for hundreds of detainees, highlighting DHS’s failure to consult local authorities or consider existing state facilities.

Elsewhere, public pressure has led to warehouse owners in Minnesota pulling out of deals, and in Missouri’s Kansas City, a developer canceled plans to sell a warehouse to ICE. New Hampshire’s governor stopped a proposed $158 million facility after DHS provided a misleading economic impact report.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also mounted legal challenges against DHS’s secretive and unilateral moves. Officials complain of being kept in the dark, a violation of federal consultation laws.

This sprawling, for-profit detention expansion echoes the Trump administration’s harsh immigration enforcement tactics. The Biden administration’s continuation of these policies, under the guise of “processing centers,” perpetuates a system rife with human rights abuses and community harm.

What’s clear is that communities are no longer willing to accept these shadowy deals that sacrifice public resources and civil liberties. The fight against ICE’s warehouse detention centers is a frontline battle in the ongoing struggle for immigrant rights and democratic accountability.