DHS Watchdog Opens Probe Into ICE Warehouse Acquisition Program

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General is set to announce an audit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acquisition of detention space, according to the Wall Street Journal. The review will examine a program that dedicated $38.3 billion toward converting unused warehouses into temporary immigration detention facilities.

Roughly $1 billion was spent on the purchases before the effort was halted. The watchdog has already opened a separate inquiry into the former secretary’s contracting process, which required her approval for any contract exceeding $100,000. That review also looks at the role of her unofficial chief of staff.

Over a 14-month period the former secretary approved the acquisition of roughly 11 warehouses that officials planned to convert into holding facilities. She had pressed for the sites to open by the end of the year. Many of the buildings were not properly zoned for detention use and lacked working plumbing.

Several communities raised concerns that the facilities could strain local resources, affect the environment or become an eyesore. In Roxbury, New Jersey, officials obtained a court order halting work on a warehouse purchased for $129 million until an environmental review is completed.

The facility remains empty. The Arizona attorney general filed suit in April to block conversion of a $70 million warehouse in Surprise. In Salt Lake City, Utah, local authorities challenged the purchase of a $145.4 million warehouse that currently sits unused.

A judge in Washington County, Maryland, blocked a $102 million warehouse from being turned into a detention center pending an environmental review.