ICE eyes selling mega-warehouses purchased for mass detention

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is looking into selling some of the large warehouses that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had purchased earlier this year to serve as mega-detention centers for immigrants, according to two Department of Homeland Security officials

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is looking into selling some of the large warehouses that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had purchased earlier this year to serve as mega-detention centers for immigrants, according to two Department of Homeland Security officials.

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DHS and ICE officials have identified several of the eleven previously purchased warehouses, some of which were expected to be repurposed to hold as many as 8,000 immigrants, for potential sale, the officials said. But, they said, the facilities have not yet been put on the market, and no final decisions have been made on the matter.

The warehouses were purchased under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as part of a plan to build the capacity to detain 100,000 immigrants across the country at a single time. They were in addition to existing facilities capable of detaining tens of thousands of immigrants. The total cost of the warehouse purchases was estimated at over $38 billion.