Overview
- Lawmakers introduced the Respect for Local Communities Act on Feb. 23, directing DHS to secure written approval from state and local officials and to run a public comment process before proceeding with new ICE sites.
- DHS officials defend the conversions, saying the locations will function as structured detention facilities that meet agency standards and will undergo community impact studies.
- Government records outline a plan to spend about $38.3 billion converting roughly 16 properties into regional processing centers holding about 1,000 to 1,500 people each, with at least seven warehouses already acquired across several states.
- Republican and Democratic local leaders have pressed owners to walk away from deals, with GOP officials touting scrapped plans in Merrimack, N.H., Wilson County, Tenn., and Mississippi after direct appeals to DHS leadership.
- Axios reports ICE will have to find roughly 48,000 additional beds after failed purchases, while community objections cite strains on utilities and emergency services and past disease outbreaks at existing detention sites.