Trump Admin Could Buy Warehouses Designed For Delivery Companies And Repurpose Them To House Migrants: Report

The Trump administration is considering buying large warehouses originally designed for delivery companies like Amazon and repurpose them to house migrants, according to a new report.

According to NBC News, the decision would largely expand the government's detention capacity. Officials are looking at locations in the southern part of the country, an official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the outlet.

The deal is past the first stages but has not been finalized, the report added, with officials noting that the warehouses could be used as "mega detention centers." Should it be finalized, ICE would run the warehouses with its own employees, rather than contractors or military personnel.

ICE has already been vastly expanding its housing capacity even without taking the warehouses into account. Another report noted that the detainee population under ICE reached a new record, with CBS News noting there are now 66,000 people detained by ICE, a 70% increase since President Donald Trump took office.

The previous high also took place under Trump but in 2019, when the figure reached 56,000 detainees.

The outlet noted that ICE now has enough beds to hold as many as 70,000 people at any time, up from 41,500 at the beginning of the second Trump administration. And capacity is set to continue expanding considering that the agency got $45 billion as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

In another passage of the piece, CBS News cited internal figures from the Department of Homeland Security showing that around 33,000 detainees did not have criminal charges or convictions and were being held due to civil immigration violations. The other half did have criminal charges or convictions.

Another report noted that ICE has increasingly held people for days or weeks inside small, undisclosed holding facilities despite internal rules limiting confinement to a matter of hours.

The Guardian said that the findings indicate widespread violations of agency policy, minimal oversight, and conditions that advocates say raise serious safety and due-process concerns.

The outlet added that it reviewed federal booking data from September 2023 through late July and found that ICE has used at least 170 holding sites nationwide, including inside 25 field offices. These sites are typically bare concrete rooms without beds and are meant for short-term processing.