Will that warehouse become an ICE detention center? Locals push back.

A Trump administration plan to rapidly expand immigration detention sites has hit a snag: Many residents don't like the idea of local warehouses being converted into deportation detention centers.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased, toured or tried to buy at least a dozen commercial buildings since December in states including Texas, Mississippi, New York and Oregon, USA TODAY has found. Court records and other disclosures show sales ranging from tens of millions to more than $100 million per warehouse.

But in some cases, public outrage has led deals to collapse as local politicians from both parties have sided with concerned residents.

In Oklahoma City, after several protests and a packed City Council meeting, a company that had planned to sell its warehouse to ICE backed out of the deal – a move cheered by Republican Mayor David Holt. In Democratic-led Salt Lake City, a company vowed not sell a warehouse that was being scouted by ICE for a 7,500-bed detention center.

ICE did not respond to specific questions about the buildings but defended the administration's effort to ramp up its detention capacity.

"These will not be warehouses – they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards," an ICE spokesperson said in an email to USA TODAY, adding: "It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space."

Opponents of the plans have included politicians who support immigration enforcement. On Feb. 4, Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi urged ICE not to move forward with plans to convert a warehouse in the town of Byhalia into a facility that would hold more than 8,500 detainees.

"While I support the enforcement of immigration law, I write to express my opposition to this acquisition and the proposed detention center," Wicker wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, adding that such a facility would put "significant strain" on local resources.

Meanwhile, residents have staged large protests as some local and state officials drafted ordinances and legislation seeking to block the detention centers. Advocates and elected officials have raised concerns that the buildings were intended to house commercial cargo – not people – and cited reports of poor conditions at other ICE facilities constructed in the past year.

'Like Prime, but with human beings'

In President Donald Trump’s second term in office, the number of ICE detention facilities – as well as the number of people being held inside them – has exploded.

There were 107 detention centers holding immigrants in January 2025. By the end of the year, that number had roughly doubled to 212, according to ICE data. These sites include privately run, dedicated immigration detention centers; temporary tent facilities on military bases; county jails; and state prisons.

The shift to repurposing large commercial spaces to house detainees highlights the Trump administration's aggressive push to maximize deportations, said Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council.

"Building a new facility with hard walls takes a lot of time and doesn't move as quickly," she told USA TODAY. "Purchasing existing facilities that are easier to stand up is a way to overcome delays and barriers."

The efforts, Gupta noted, seem to align with comments ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons made last year at a border security expo in Arizona.

"We need to get better at treating this like a business," Lyons said at the event, adding that he wanted to see a deportation process "like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings."

Some of the proposed warehouses are planned to hold more than 8,000 undocumented immigrants at a time. The largest ICE detention center now in operation, Camp East Montana, has a capacity of 5,000 beds and has been plagued by reports of poor conditions.

The tent camp at Fort Bliss Army base in Texas was cited for 60 violations by ICE inspectors in September. A report from the American Civil Liberties Union based on dozens of interviews found patterns of physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect and insufficient food.

The Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations of abuse in the report and maintained that all detainees are given proper due process.

The Texas facility has most recently come under scrutiny after the death of a Cuban migrant was ruled a homicide in January. ICE officials had said the man, Geraldo Lunas Campos, died after "experiencing medical distress."

Proposed ICE facilities galvanize communities

As word of the proposed facilities spread, so has furor among local residents.

In Chester, a town in New York’s Hudson Valley where Trump won a majority of votes in 2024, hundreds of people braved freezing temperatures to protest a proposed plan by the Department of Homeland Security to acquire and convert a warehouse into an ICE detention center.

Residents held signs reading "ICE=TERROR" and "I’m not mad at you," a reference to the last words said by Renee Nicole Good before she was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis in January. A recent Chester Village board meeting had to be moved from its usual location to a senior center because 600 people showed up to decry the proposed facility.

In Washington County, Maryland, where Trump won 60% of the vote in 2024, residents protested Jan. 20 after DHS bought a warehouse for more than $102 million.

Nancy Evans, 80, who lives in the Williamsport area, said she opposes the ICE facility because the agency is "arresting people they shouldn’t be" and is "using way too much force," citing recent operations in Minneapolis.

"We don't want it," Evans told The Herald-Mail, part of the USA TODAY Network.

In Surprise, Arizona, a suburb outside Phoenix, more than 1,000 people showed up to a rally Jan. 31 after DHS bought a 418,000-square-foot warehouse.

"An ICE facility in Surprise would be a stain on our city," Carole Parnell, a local resident, told the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Similar protests have been held in Orlando, Florida; Salt Lake City; and Social Circle, Georgia.

Can local or state officials block ICE detention centers?

Facing opposition to the detention sites, local officials say they have limited power to stop the federal government from acquiring land and buildings, especially from private owners.

Officials in Surprise, where ICE bought a warehouse from a private company for $70 million in cash, said there’s not much they can do because federal projects are not subject to local regulations, like zoning.

This "leaves us completely helpless," Chris Judd, a councilmember in Surprise, told the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network. "It's looking like it's out of our hands."

In Orlando, where ICE officials have repeatedly visited a 440,000-square-foot warehouse, Democrat Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a statement that the city tried to find a path to prevent an ICE detention facility from opening and found none.

"The city is unable to take action to limit or regulate any activity by the federal government," Dyer said.

Other communities, meanwhile, are trying to implement ordinances and other regulations to stop ICE detention centers from opening in their communities, though it remains unclear whether such efforts will be successful.

In El Paso, Texas, the nonpartisan City Council unanimously approved an action plan in February aimed at exploring ways to block any future detention centers, including the establishment of a moratorium on ICE facilities.

States are also taking action. A bill banning ICE centers in New Mexico was passed by the state’s Democrat-led Legislature on Feb. 3 and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Similar bills have been introduced in Delaware, New York and Massachusetts.

Some private sellers back out of deals amid public pressure

Though local governments appear to have limited power to prevent ICE detention facilities from opening, protesters and officials have found a winning formula: pressuring private landowners.

In Salt Lake City, rumors about a potential ICE detention facility sparked a protest outside the warehouse that was reportedly being toured by Homeland Security officials.

On Jan. 24, the family-owned Ritchie Group released a statement saying the company and its investigators "have no plans to sell or lease the property in question to the federal government" – an announcement that was welcomed by residents and local leaders alike.

"I am deeply relieved to hear that the Ritchie Group will not sell or lease a warehouse in Salt Lake City that was a designated site for an ICE detention facility," Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said in a statement.

On Jan. 30, a Canadian company, Jim Pattinson Developments, made a similar announcement, assuring residents in Ashland, Virginia, that it would not move forward with a deal to sell a 550,000-square-foot warehouse to DHS.

The company said it had accepted the bid before it was aware that the facility would be used "in support of ICE operations," as described in a letter from DHS to Hanover County officials.

Similarly, in Oklahoma City, the private owners of a warehouse that was set to be purchased by ICE pulled out of a deal after outcry at City Council meetings and protests downtown.

"I commend the owners for their decision and thank them on behalf of the people of Oklahoma City," Republican Mayor David Holt said in a statement after the deal fell through.

State Sen. Michael Brooks, an immigration attorney who represents south Oklahoma City, celebrated the collapse of the agreement and said he expects other property owners who strike deals with ICE to face similar blowback.

"What was demonstrated at the City Council meeting is that citizens aren’t going to stand for this," Brooks said. "People are energized."

Contributing: Lauren Villagran, Ignacio Calderon and Jennifer Borresen, USA TODAY; Steve Lackmeyer, Maria Guinnip and Jessie Christopher Smith, The Oklahoman; Vandana Saras, Middletown Times Herald- Record; Julie E. Greene, The Herald-Mail; Elena Santa Cruz, Arizona Republic; Adam Powell and Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times; and Pam Dankins, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Christopher Cann is a national breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact him via email at [email protected].