More than 20 large warehouse cities have become stealth targets for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s $45 billion expansion of detention centers. Some communities complain that ICE doesn’t tell them anything until after it has bought space for thousands of detainees. In some cases, warehouse owners refuse to sell.
A look at some of the locations:
Arizona
Local officials were told nothing before ICE purchased a 418,000-square-foot (38,833 square meter) warehouse in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise for $70 million, the state’s top attorney, Kris Mayes, said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Documents later provided by ICE said the Department of Homeland Security estimated it would spend $150 million to upgrade the facility into a 1,500-bed processing site.
Florida
A TV reporter in Orlando saw private contractors and federal officials last month touring a 439,945-square-foot (40,872-square-meter) industrial warehouse. ICE Senior Counsel David Venturella told a WFTV reporter that the tour was “exploratory.”
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement that the city has not been contacted by the federal government and has no legal options to stop a possible ICE facility.
Georgia
ICE bought a massive stake in Social Circle for $128.6 million. The city said it has been told the facility is expected to house between 7,500 and 10,000 inmates and will be built using a modular design so capacity can be scaled up or down as needed.
Work is also underway to convert a warehouse in Oakwood into an ICE processing facility, Republican U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde said in a statement, though no action has been filed. City Manager BR White said his first inkling that a deal was imminent came when a warehouse supervisor told a city inspector that he had been instructed to vacate the site to make way for the new owners – the federal government.
Indian
After the city of Merrillville raised concerns about an ICE visit to a new 25,548-square-foot warehouse, owner Opus Holding LLC sent a letter saying it is not negotiating with federal officials for the property. The letter said Opus was limited in what it could share due to legal issues.
Maryland
ICE purchased a warehouse about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Baltimore for $102.4 million, a deed signed last month shows. The deed was unearthed by Project Salt Box, an ICE watchdog in Maryland.
Washington County officials said in a Facebook post that DHS had notified them in advance that it was considering purchasing the warehouse for use as a “new ICE Baltimore processing facility.” County commissioners later passed a resolution in support of ICE’s activities.
Michigan
ICE announced the acquisition of a facility in Romulus after the transaction closed. The city responded in a Facebook post that officials were concerned about the “lack of advance notice.”
Minnesota
Warehouse owners in the Minneapolis suburbs of Woodbury and Shakopee have backed out of possible ICE deals after public outcry, according to local officials.
Mississippi
Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker posted that Noem agreed to look elsewhere after local elected officials and zoning officials opposed a possible detention center in the town of Byhalia.
Missouri
After weeks of public pressure, development company Platform Ventures has announced it will not move forward with the sale of a massive warehouse in Kansas City.
New Hampshire
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte took issue with federal officials after ICE unveiled plans to spend $158 million to convert a warehouse in Merrimack into a 500-bed processing center.
The issue came to a head when ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons testified that DHS “worked with Governor Ayotte” and provided him with a summary of the economic impact.
Ayotte said the claim was “simply not true.” She said the summary was sent hours after Lyons testified. The document erroneously refers to “leverage effects on the Oklahoma economy” and revenue generated by state sales and income taxes, neither of which exist in New Hampshire.
New Jersey
Roxbury said Friday that ICE has completed the sale of a warehouse despite offering the owner tax breaks to stop the purchase.
No property documents were yet available online showing the sale price. The announcement came just two days after ICE said it made a “mistake” when it previously announced the purchase.
“Let’s be clear: Roxbury Township will not passively accept this outcome,” the mayor and city council wrote in a news release.
new york
ICE said Tuesday it made a mistake when it announced the purchase of a vacant warehouse in Chester. New York State Assemblyman Brian Maher said Friday that ICE is no longer considering the facility.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt announced last month that property owners have informed him they are no longer engaged with DHS about a potential warehouse purchase or lease.
Pennsylvania
DHS purchased a warehouse in Tremont Township for $119.5 million and one in Upper Bern Township for $87.4 million. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration will fight DHS plans to turn warehouses in rural eastern Pennsylvania into immigration detention and processing centers.
Texas
In the El Paso suburb of Socorro, ICE paid $122.8 million for a trio of warehouses spanning 826,780 square feet (76,810 square meters). ICE also paid $66.1 million for a 639,595-square-foot (59,420 square meter) warehouse in San Antonio. The mayors of both cities are opposed.
However, another deal in the state was scrapped following community backlash. In the Dallas suburb of Hutchins, a real estate company confirmed it had been contacted about one of its properties but would not sell or lease any buildings to DHS for use as a detention center. California-based Majestic Realty Co. offered no explanation in its statement.
Utah
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall expressed gratitude in her State of the City address that the owners of a warehouse that ICE viewed as a detention center announced plans not to sell or lease the property to the federal government.
virgin
Jim Pattison Developments said in a statement last month that it became aware of the intended use of a warehouse in suburban Richmond, Va., after agreeing to sell it to a US government contractor. Following threats of a boycott, the Vancouver-based company announced that the deal “will not proceed.”
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Associated Press reporters Holly Ramer, Isabella Volmert and Marc Levy contributed to this report.