ICE spent more than $20 million on detention centers it now plans to abandon
The GAO concluded that the agency moved forward with several expansion projects without a comprehensive strategic plan. It even purchased 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion and is now working to sell seven of them.
ICE's El Paso Processing Center
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spent more than $20 million on unrecoverable costs related to seven warehouses acquired to be converted into detention centers and which it now plans to sell, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The audit, published on Sept. 24, concluded that ICE launched six new initiatives to expand its detention capacity beginning in January 2025, but did so without first developing a comprehensive strategic plan that defined objectives, resource needs and long-term costs.
One of those projects was the so-called Detention Facility Reengineering Initiative, under which ICE began purchasing and remodeling warehouses to use them as immigration facilities. Between January and April 2026, the agency acquired 11 warehouses nationwide for approximately $1.07 billion.
However, in June, the Department of Homeland Security began reevaluating the model. ICE officials subsequently informed the GAO that they were working with the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell seven of the 11 properties.
According to data provided by ICE to the auditors, the agency had already spent $7.7 million on non-recoverable costs, including zoning assessments and title insurance related to the seven warehouses it intends to sell. Added to this is approximately $12.8 million spent through August on security, utilities and other maintenance costs for the buildings that remain unused.
In total, these expenditures exceed $20.5 million.
The GAO warned that the losses could increase. The seven properties that ICE intends to divest had a combined purchase price of $707 million, so a sale below that amount would result in additional costs for the federal government.
How many people are currently detained in these centers?
As of July 2026, according to the most recent available figures, ICE was detaining more than 65,500 immigrants. Approximately 18,000 were convicted criminals; 18,513 had pending criminal charges and the remaining 21,675 had violated some type of immigration law.
Multi-million-dollar projects on hold
ICE maintains another four warehouses that it does intend to use. Two of them, located in Hagerstown, Maryland and Surprise, Arizona, have renovation and operation contracts worth $113 million and $313 million, respectively.
However, both projects were largely stalled in September due to litigation filed by Maryland and Arizona authorities regarding the environmental reviews of the facilities.
The GAO also noted that ICE had initially announced plans to open 24 such facilities by November 2026. Sixteen were intended to be regional processing centers with a capacity of up to 1,500 detainees, while another eight could house up to 10,000 people each.
DHS accepts the GAO's recommendation
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accepted the recommendation and stated that ICE will develop this plan, although it expects to complete it by Aug. 31, 2027. The GAO warned that, given the amount of funding available and the risk of new unnecessary expenditures, an earlier deadline may be necessary.
The report comes at a time when federal resources allocated to immigration detention have increased significantly. The law known as One Big Beautiful Bill Act allocated $45 billion to ICE for detention capacity through 2029, according to the GAO itself.
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