The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is scaling back its controversial plan to convert warehouses into immigrant detention centers, with Secretary Markwayne Mullin acknowledging shortcomings in the project’s planning and execution. The announcement came during Mullin’s testimony before the House of Representatives on June 25, highlighting a reassessment of the 11 warehouses purchased earlier this year at a cost of about $1 billion.
Mullin stated that DHS is evaluating which facilities are viable for conversion and which are not. “There are some that just quite frankly, probably won’t work,” he said, adding that due diligence on some properties had been insufficient. The department is reportedly in talks to sell or repurpose at least seven of the warehouse properties, with plans to abandon detention center projects in Social Circle, Georgia; Romulus, Michigan; and Tremont and Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
While the department admitted to missteps, it has not completely withdrawn from the initiative. Warehouses in Maryland and Arizona remain under development, with private contractors engaged to manage operations. Contracts were also being prepared last month for facilities in San Antonio and near El Paso. DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis confirmed the agency is focusing on utilizing existing detention spaces in collaboration with state and local partners.
Experts have expressed concern about the financial implications of DHS’s purchases. Real estate professor Andra Ghent of the University of Utah noted that the department paid approximately 13 percent above market value for the warehouses, according to data from CoStar, a real estate analytics firm. Ghent warned that the market for such large industrial spaces is limited, complicating efforts to offload the properties. Dan Mathews, former head of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, explained that government property sales require offers to other agencies and local governments alongside appraisals to protect taxpayer interests. It remains unclear if the GSA will facilitate the warehouse sales.
The warehouse detention plan was originally conceived as a substantial redesign of the immigrant detention system, envisioning up to $38 billion spent on acquiring and converting roughly two dozen properties nationwide. The strategy aimed to create a hub-and-spoke model where migrants would initially be detained briefly at smaller centers before being moved to larger, “mega-detention centers” with capacities up to 10,000 individuals.
Opposition to the plan was swift and widespread after the initial locations were disclosed late last year. Activist groups from diverse political backgrounds organized protests, attended municipal meetings en masse, and initiated legal challenges. At least six state and local governments filed lawsuits arguing that DHS violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by not conducting required environmental impact assessments. Following the lawsuits, DHS agreed to carry out those reviews, delaying the project.
Local officials criticized the plan as poorly conceived from the start. Eric Taylor, city manager of Social Circle, Georgia, characterized the initiative as “half-baked,” and pointed to the city’s lawsuit against DHS. The scale-back coincides with a shift in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enforcement tactics, moving away from large-scale arrests and raids that had driven demand for detention space early in the administration. ICE data indicated it held 59,000 individuals in custody on June 24, down from more than 70,000 in January.
Recent months have seen multiple setbacks for the warehouse detention concept nationally, with DHS cancelling plans in New Hampshire, Mississippi, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and other states. Some property owners outright refused to sell their facilities for detention purposes. The warehouse acquisitions attracted scrutiny from state attorneys general and a DHS inspector general audit examining cost-effectiveness.
Since Mullin took over DHS in late March, the department has adopted a more cautious approach, reviewing previous warehouse purchases and delaying contract awards. The partial retreat has been welcomed by activists and local officials who have fought the conversions. In Social Circle, city officials took symbolic actions to hinder federal use of local resources. Activists in Michigan and elsewhere celebrated the scaling-back as a notable community victory against federal plans they viewed as inhumane and disruptive.