The Blogging Hounds

The Biden-era border collapse is over — replaced by something even bigger, and far more controversial.

Under Donald Trump, the federal government is quietly transforming its immigration enforcement strategy — not just through law enforcement on the border, but by building what could become the largest detention network in U.S. history.

Across the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security are buying and repurposing huge industrial warehouses to hold tens of thousands of immigrants, drawing fierce pushback from communities, local officials, and civil rights groups.

This isn’t fringe policy. It’s a coordinated nationwide expansion designed to boost detention and deportation capacity after record high immigrant arrests.

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23 Warehouses, Thousands of Beds, Fierce Opposition

Federal agencies are acquiring warehouses — often hundreds of thousands of square feet each — with plans to convert them into new detention and processing centers. One recently documented purchase was a 520,000-square-foot facility in Berks County, Pennsylvania, acquired for roughly $87.4 million and potentially holding up to 1,500 detainees.

Bloomberg and other outlets report that as many as 23 such buildings may be in play, with individual facilities designed to house from the low thousands to nearly 10,000 people apiece.

Local resistance has been widespread. From Maryland to Kansas City to New Hampshire, community leaders have raised alarms about zoning, public safety, and transparency — only to learn that federal law often overrides local zoning codes when it comes to national detention facilities.

In San Antonio, a newly purchased warehouse on the East Side — near schools and residential neighborhoods — has sparked strong criticism from local officials who fear the long-term impacts on their community.

In Maryland, county leaders have publicly protested proposed detention facilities, even while acknowledging that federal authority limits their ability to stop construction.

Why This Matters

This warehouse expansion is happening as ICE’s detainee population has surged. The agency now holds tens of thousands more people on any given day compared to just a year or two ago.

The conversion of vast industrial properties into detention centers would represent a structural shift — from a patchwork of jails and small processing centers to a national grid of giant detention hubs.

The facilities being eyed for conversion could each house thousands, and collectively could detain tens of thousands of people that ICE arrests in both border and interior enforcement operations.

It’s also drawing political concern. Even some Republican lawmakers — such as a U.S. senator from Mississippi — have publicly questioned the wisdom of large detention facilities in rural areas lacking medical and social support infrastructure.

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Nationwide Backlash Already Building

Across multiple states, residents and local legislators are pushing back:

• In Kansas City, council members passed a moratorium on non-city detention facilities in response to ICE interest in a nearby warehouse.
• In New Hampshire, public records show plans to purchase a massive warehouse in Merrimack for conversion, drawing attention from state advocacy groups.
• In San Antonio, city leaders voiced deep concern over a massive facility near homes and schools.

Activists point out that this policy — financed by tens of billions of dollars allocated in recent federal law — is part of a broader immigration enforcement crackdown that many argue will strain communities and families while expanding federal authority into local neighborhoods.

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Conclusion: A New Stage of Immigration Enforcement

The warehouse conversion plan marks a historic expansion of the U.S. immigration detention network — and not everyone is on board. From community outrage to state legislative efforts seeking to block or tax operations, the backlash is rapidly building.

Whether this policy ultimately succeeds, or whether local resistance slows or reshapes it, remains to be seen. What is clear is that immigration enforcement in America is entering a new and much larger phase — one with a national footprint that could redefine how the country prosecutes and houses detainees for years to come.

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