Trump Plans Mass Immigration Detention: Warehouses as Camps
ROXBURY, N.J. — A warehouse in Roxbury, Recent Jersey, stands as a stark symbol of the Trump administration’s escalating plans for large-scale immigration detention. The facility, photographed on February 16, 2026, is slated to be converted into a detention center as part of a broader effort to dramatically expand the capacity to hold immigrants, potentially reaching nearly 100,000 beds nationwide.
The scale of the undertaking is unprecedented. The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly racing to acquire and retrofit over two dozen warehouses, some capable of holding up to 10,000 people, according to documents released last week. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) anticipates spending $38.3 billion on these acquisitions and renovations. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, noted that if fully utilized, these facilities would be the largest prisons in the country, with limited oversight, and represent a scale of detention not seen in the U.S. Since the Japanese internment during World War II.
While a recent scaling back of ICE’s “surge” in Minnesota marked a victory for local resistance groups, the broader deportation apparatus remains firmly in motion. The billions allocated to warehouse conversions suggest a relentless pursuit of expanded detention capacity. As one investor on a recent CoreCivic earnings call reportedly stated, current ICE detention numbers – exceeding 70,000 – are still below the anticipated 100,000 level. This sentiment underscores a drive to fill these facilities, regardless of the human cost.
The financial incentives driving this expansion are significant. CoreCivic’s CEO recently emphasized the gains made through Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, assuring investors that the Minnesota drawdown wouldn’t significantly alter enforcement strategies. This suggests a continuation of racial profiling, mass roundups, and substantial profits for private prison corporations like CoreCivic and Geo Group, as well as surveillance technology companies like Palantir. The expansion of ICE, now with 22,000 officers, is being funded at a rate of nearly $80 billion through Congress’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The warehouse purchases are also benefiting Trump-connected real estate brokers and providing a bailout for commercial real estate owners struggling with market headwinds and the impact of Trump’s trade policies. This economic stimulus, built on the foundation of ethnic cleansing, primarily benefits a small number of businesses and individuals. The Cato Institute estimates that Trump’s mass deportation plan could cost up to $1 trillion over a decade, while the American Immigration Council found it could reduce the U.S. Gross domestic product by 4.2 to 6.8 percent. The $45 billion budgeted for ICE detention centers dwarfs the $12.8 billion spent on affordable housing in 2023.
Despite the administration’s financial capacity, resistance is mounting. Several warehouse owners have withdrawn from sales to ICE following local backlash and protests. Canadian billionaire Jim Pattison’s company, for example, cancelled a deal to sell a 550,000-square-foot warehouse in Ashland, Virginia, citing the heated political climate surrounding immigration policy. Bloomberg reported on this development.
Similar deals near Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and Byhalia, Missouri, have also collapsed due to community opposition. Concerns range from strains on local infrastructure to broader moral objections. While some resistance stems from NIMBYism – “Not In My Backyard” – the growing opposition demonstrates a widening rejection of the administration’s policies. The limits of what the Trump administration can “actually do,” as historian Adam Tooze has framed it, are increasingly defined by political, logistical, and material constraints, despite seemingly unlimited budgetary resources.