Original Date Announced

NBC reports that the administration may buy warehouses and retrofit them as immigration-detention facilities. This would significantly expand detention capacity, as these warehouses are "on average more than twice the size of current ICE detention facilities." ICE has not determined specific warehouses but is considering those near airports in the southern U.S. DHS and White House officials said that use of warehouses would "increase efficiency" as immigrants are most often deported from these airports.

Trump 2.0 [ID #2070]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.12.18 Reported: ICE Plans Detention Expansion With Deal to Design 'Mega Centers' - Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News reports that the Trump administration is planning on using up to two dozen warehouse-style "mega centers" nationwide, with the largest sites holding 5,000 or more people. To that end, ICE has issued a $29.9 million no-bid design contract to Kpb Services LLC, a company with no previous government work, on November 28 for “due diligence services and concept design for processing centers and mega centers throughout the United States.” Two people familiar with the matter have stated that the contract is part of the effort to use existing warehouses for immigration detention.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.12.24 Reported: ICE documents reveal plan to hold 80,000 immigrants in warehouses - The Washington Post

The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is seeking contractors to overhaul the U.S. immigration detention system by converting industrial warehouses into large-scale detention centers capable of holding more than 80,000 people, according to a draft ICE solicitation reviewed by the Post. The plan would create a "feeder system" in which detainees are briefly processed, then sent to massive warehouses near logistics hubs in states including Texas, Arizona, and Georgia to speed deportations.

Commercial real estate experts indicated numerous potential issues with using warehouses for human habitation regarding climate control, plumbing, and sanitation. ICE indicated in the draft solicitation that it intended to heavily modify the facilities, including to facilitate family detention.

The Post also indicates that Kpb Services LLC, which Bloomberg News previously reported had entered a no-bid contract with ICE for due diligence services and processing centers, has withdrawn from the contract at the direction of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, a Native American tribe with which the business is associated.