"Now that it has $45 billion to spend from the "Big, Beautiful Bill," it's quickly making purchases for hundreds of millions of dollars. Some of the sites are warehouses previously designed for e-commerce retailers, Bloomberg reported. These sites will need additional spending to retrofit them to house people - for what can legally be up to six months - before deportation."
"Friction point: In Hanover County, Virginia, anti-ICE protesters flooded a Board of Supervisors meeting to oppose the purchase of a roughly $50 million warehouse, as Axios Richmond's Sabrina Moreno reported. In Hagerstown, Maryland, hundreds of protesters descended on another already-purchased warehouse, along with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) who has been a vocal voice against ICE's expansions under the Trump administration, according to the Baltimore Banner."
"Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire and New York residents packed county meeting rooms and protested detention expansions in recent weeks, according to local reports. Zoom in: The intensity and aggressive tactics of Trump's immigration enforcement has cratered public support for ICE's mission. The deadly shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January have not only provoked public outrage in the city but has even caused Trump to recalibrate."
DHS received $45 billion from the "Big, Beautiful Bill" and is rapidly purchasing properties, including former e-commerce warehouses, to use as detention facilities. The sites require additional retrofits to house people for up to six months before deportation. Communities in Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire and New York have held large protests opposing the purchases. DHS has already spent over $170 million on properties in Maryland and Arizona. Planned capacities range from about 500 at smaller warehouses to between 7,500 and 9,500 at the largest sites. Federal purchases reduce local and state ability to block the expansions.
Read at Axios
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]