The Trump administration has spent millions of taxpayer dollars putting into motion its plan to buy unused commercial warehouses for use as detention centers for those deemed unfit to live in the U.S., despite local opposition.
Many of the planned “mega” warehouse detention centers are located in small cities and towns whose infrastructure cannot support such a population surge, their officials say. A number of them are located close to homes and schools, residents and officials contend.
The plans drew local opposition across the political spectrum when they became public in December That included a rally last week in Chester, N.Y., where the government plans to detain as many as 1,500 people in a 400,000-square-foot former Pep Boys auto parts warehouse.
Despite the pushback, ICE has started a buying spree, according to reports last week in Bloomberg and The Washington Post.
As many as 23 warehouses in eight states will have the capacity to detain 80,000 immigrants nationwide, according to the plan. The U.S. spent $172 million in January alone to acquire two such warehouses — spending $102 million for a warehouse near Hagerstown, Maryland and $70 million for one in Surprise, Arizona.
Some of the deals have collapsed as property owners learn what the site is to be used for, Bloomberg reported. That happened with a 550,000-square-foot warehouse in Virginia owned by a Canadian magnate, and owners of a warehouse in Oklahoma City.
ICE has reportedly refused to share details of its Chestertown plan with state, county or local officials, citing the “heightened threat environment and the unprecedented opposition being thrown up by the left against ICE’s efforts to effectuate mass deportations,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY18) told Spectrum News at Friday’s rally.
Kerem YUCEL / AFP via Getty Images
Federal agents use pepper spray against a protester holding a sign during an enforcement operation outside an ICE facility in Minneapolis on January 11. (Photo by Kerem YUCEL / AFP via Getty Images)
Since ICE’s plans first came to light, the nation has seen government agents fatally shoot two U.S. citizens protesting detention tactics in Minneapolis, and hundreds harassed, sprayed with tear gas or bullied trying to protect neighbors.
“The inhumane treatment that we know is happening across ICE detention centers in this country, that has no place here in our backyard,” Orange County Legislator Genesis Ramos told Spectrum. “Even if we had the infrastructure, I would be in full opposition of this facility.”
