The Department of Homeland Security is pausing the purchase of new warehouses intended to house immigrants as it scrutinizes all contracts signed under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to a senior Homeland Security official.
The development comes just days after the new Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, was sworn in last week to lead a department that was steeped in controversy during Noem's tenure but also central to President Trump's mass deportation agenda.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. News of the pause was first reported by NBC News.
The official also said that warehouse purchases that were already made are also being scrutinized.
So far, 11 warehouses have been purchased in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah, with the federal government spending a combined $1.074 billion.
But lawsuits are pending in three of the states.
Meanwhile, the capacity of at least one warehouse has been scaled back. Plans initially called for a warehouse in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise to be used as a 1,500-bed processing site, but Homeland Security now plans to cap occupied beds at 542, Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor said during a news conference on Monday.
“This facility will not trigger local immigration enforcement activities. There will be no operations in sensitive areas such as schools, churches, or senior centers," Sartor said.
Sartor said local officials can do little to prevent the federal use of the facility, but that the city will be reimbursed for property tax loss. The City Council will take public comment during its April 7 meeting.
When asked about reports of the pause, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that “as with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals.”
The Department also noted that Mullin said during his confirmation hearing that he wanted to “work with community leaders" and “be good partners.”
Mullin inherited a $38.3 billion plan to boost detention capacity to 92,000 beds by acquiring eight large-scale detention centers, capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees each, and 16 smaller regional processing centers.
The plan was hatched during Noem' s tenure but immediately ran into intense opposition around the country by residents and communities opposed to such large Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in their neighborhoods.
Many objected on moral grounds to ICE's presence in their neighborhoods, while others questioned whether the facilities would be a drain on local resources, such as sewer and water systems.
In many cases, mayors, county commissioners, governors and members of Congress learned about ICE’s ambitions only after the agency bought or leased space for detainees, leading to shock and frustration even in areas that have backed Trump.
The warehouse plan ran into challenges from the start. Eight deals were scuttled in places like Kansas City, Missouri, when owners decided not to sell.
Pressed on the lack of information during his confirmation hearing, Mullin acknowledged there had been issues.
“We’ve got to protect the homeland and we’re going to do that,” Mullin said. “But obviously we want to work with community leaders.”
Mullin, who took over and expanded his family’s plumbing business before representing Oklahoma in the U.S House and Senate, said that “one thing I do know is construction.”
He noted that most municipalities don’t have the capacity in their infrastructure for waste and water.
“So, it’s important that we’re talking to the communities and if we’re having additional needs, we can work with the cities," he said at his confirmation hearing earlier this month.
-
A member of the Chandler City Council is calling for the swift completion of an internal review of an off-duty Phoenix police sergeant’s behavior at a student protest against ICE in January. -
Congress has spent months negotiating funding for ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. But behind the scenes, ICE detention is expanding. And the mechanisms that used to monitor it are crumbling. -
Sky Harbor spokesperson Monica Hernandez confirmed that ICE agents have now been gone for a week after vacating the airport on April 6. -
Border Patrol agents in Arizona and elsewhere began wearing body cameras years ago. But a Biden-era accountability initiative to release the footage hasn't been updated in almost a year. -
The flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border has remained low over the past year, but there was an uptick in apprehensions between February and March.
