Overview
- Wicker sent a Wednesday letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem opposing ICE’s plan to convert a Byhalia warehouse into a detention center.
- He says the facility is reported to exceed 8,500 beds, far beyond what Byhalia’s medical and human services can support.
- The senator argues the site was set aside for job-creating industrial investment and that a detention complex would displace those plans and strain water, sewer, energy, transport, and emergency services.
- Multiple outlets report ICE is in the final stages of acquiring the warehouse as part of the administration’s effort to expand detention capacity.
- DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposal.