As ICE buys up warehouses, even some Trump voters say no

WASHINGTON – Stacy Bradley voted for President Donald Trump because of his border policies, and she likes that he has restored “law and order.” But she is unsettled by one aspect of his immigration agenda.

Last month, the federal government bought a warehouse next to her cheerleading gym in Surprise, Arizona, which the administration plans to convert into a detention center for up to 1,500 immigrants.

Bradley, the co-owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer, said she worried that a detainee could escape, or that protests could happen. The children who train at her gym, as young as 3, and could see “people in shackles” next door, she said.

“That’s a scary thing for a little kid to process,” Bradley said.

Across the country, the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to buy industrial warehouses and turn them into detention centers for immigrants are running into local resistance, including in communities like Surprise that voted for Trump in the last presidential election.

The pushback is complicating efforts to expand detention capacity to accommodate the tens of thousands of additional immigrants the administration expects to confine, to deliver on its mass deportation drive.

Local officials and residents in at least a dozen areas have voiced opposition to the facilities, packing town hall meetings and expressing fears that the protests that shook Minneapolis could be unleashed in their backyards.

Those who object to the facilities say that the sites would diminish property tax revenue, harm local businesses and strain water and sewer infrastructure. They have also expressed humanitarian concerns over converting industrial warehouses into detention centers that could hold people for an average of 60 days.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration is pressing forward in pursuit of its goal to expand its detention footprint to at least 100,000 beds, which will help it arrest, detain and deport more people. A DHS official with knowledge of the plans, speaking anonymously to share internal information, said the expansion would allow the agency to avoid overcrowding.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already faced complaints of crowded and unsafe conditions at many current facilities, including in hold rooms and processing centers that were not intended for long-term detention.

Of the roughly 20 warehouses being eyed for purchase, at least eight have already been bought in states including Maryland, Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania, according to internal Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by the New York Times. Some purchases recently collapsed in other areas as potential sellers faced mounting public backlash and canceled sales.

The warehouses will be renovated to meet detention standards and provide food, medical and laundry services, ICE said.

“I can understand local concerns,” said Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, an acting deputy homeland security secretary during the first Trump administration. “However, ICE is long overdue for setting up processing facilities all over the country.”

In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said the agency’s initial purchase of eight sites would bring economic benefits to local communities, including thousands of jobs. The spokesperson added that the facilities would also be structured well and meet regular detention standards.

The federal government plans to turn eight facilities into “large-scale detention centers” and 16 into processing sites, according to the ICE document. The agency also intends to buy 10 detention facilities where ICE already operates.

The administration’s expansion plan is set to cost about $38 billion, which will be drawn from the billions of dollars Congress approved last summer for Trump’s mass deportation campaign, the document says.

ICE said that it had completed a “thorough due diligence process” before buying the sites, including reviewing the water supply at each site before determining it to be “sufficient,” according to the document. Some detention facilities will need upgraded wastewater systems, the document says.

Some local governments have tried to halt the federal government’s plans. In Oakwood, Georgia, city officials released a statement this month urging residents to contact ICE directly to push for a pause and full review of a proposal. Kansas City, Missouri, passed a five-year moratorium on approvals for detention facilities not owned or managed by the city last month amid reports about ICE’s plan to buy a warehouse there.

But many local officials say there is little they can do legally, because the federal government is generally exempt from local land use and zoning regulations.

Some sales have fallen through after public fury intensified. Jim Pattison Developments, a Canadian company, said last month that it would no longer sell a warehouse in Virginia to the Department of Homeland Security, after criticism and calls for a boycott.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a social media post this month that a planned facility in Marshall County would not move forward after he spoke with Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary.

“I appreciate her for agreeing to look elsewhere,” Wicker said in the post.

Local officials said that they had explored legal options to try to block the sales. But many conceded there was little they could do to stop the federal government.

“As far as legal has told us, there’s nothing we can do,” said Chris Judd, a City Council member in Surprise.

Joshua Breese, a business owner in Surprise who voted for Trump in 2024, said he supported the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. But he worried that the new detention center would bring protests, similar to the clashes in Minneapolis he had watched on the news.

“I was so sick and tired of turning on the TV and seeing millions of people flood across the border. I’m so happy with what they’re doing,” Breese said about the Trump administration. “Do I want it to touch my neighborhood? No.”

In Social Circle, Georgia, local officials said they were concerned about the federal government’s plans to operate a detention center that could hold as many as 8,500 immigrants in the city. This month, the federal government finalized the purchase of a warehouse that was recently constructed in the area, according to county records.

Eric Taylor, the city manager of Social Circle, said it was unclear how the federal government would be able to access the water and sewer infrastructure it needed to house detainees. The city is already at capacity with about 5,000 residents, he said.

Even though more than 70% of the city voted for Trump in the last presidential election, the vast majority of residents are against the detention center, Taylor said.

Some local officials vowed to keep trying to block the facilities. Nicole Wilson, a commissioner in Orange County, Florida, said county attorneys were looking into legal options to stop ICE from buying a warehouse in Orlando, including by applying zoning and land use regulations. She said that the county could face legal challenges from the federal government, but that local officials had to “try using the tools we have.”

“It’s horrifying to me that it’s even an option to be able to use a warehouse as a detention facility,” Wilson said. “I think it’s something worth challenging.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.