Overview
- This week federal officials told a court they will sell the Romulus, Michigan, warehouse and notified officials that projects in Social Circle, Georgia, and Socorro, Texas, are no longer being pursued.
- Secretary Markwayne Mullin paused new warehouse buys after taking over the department and directed ICE to prioritize using existing state and county detention space.
- Local governments and states filed multiple federal lawsuits that argued the agency skipped required environmental reviews and raised worries about water, sewer, floodplain siting and impacts on schools.
- The DHS Office of Inspector General opened a review after reporting that some warehouse purchases exceeded tax or assessed values and raised questions about procurement and cost justification.
- Several other purchased properties remain under environmental or legal review and communities still lack clear timelines for sales or transfers, leaving local officials uncertain about future uses and local impacts.