Story perspectives

ICE Sells Michigan Site, Cancels $38B Expansion, DeSantis Closes Center

6/27/2026

Center

ICE Sells Warehouses

ICE confirmed the Romulus, Michigan warehouse will be sold and seven of eleven sites transferred or disposed of.
Federal officials are discarding a $38 billion immigration-detention expansion that relied on converting commercial warehouses into large-scale holding sites.
Lawsuits by Michigan, Detroit and other localities have halted the Romulus purchase over alleged overpayment.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced Alligator Alcatraz detention center now has zero detainees and is closing.

Left

Tribe Demands Probe

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe demand an independent probe of ecological damage at the Alligator Alcatraz detention center.
Federal officials are discarding a $38 billion immigration-detention expansion that relied on converting commercial warehouses.
Detainee Wilson endured showers every three to four days and wore feces-stained underwear.
The center’s bright lights and paved 20-acre area disrupted 2,000 acres of Florida panther habitat.

History

Historical Context

The 1994 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, dramatically expanded federal detention capacity. ICE, then a fledgling agency, operated 1,200 detention beds that year, while the Department of Justice allocated $1.5 billion for facility upgrades. Today, ICE’s $38 billion warehouse-conversion plan mirrors that 1994 expansion, prompting lawsuits from Michigan, Detroit, and the Miccosukee Tribe over overpayment and habitat loss. The precedent suggests federal courts may curtail further privatized sites, forcing policymakers to reconsider large-scale detention and its ecological toll.

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ICE Sells Warehouses

ICE confirmed the Romulus, Michigan warehouse will be sold and seven of eleven sites transferred or disposed of.
Federal officials are discarding a $38 billion immigration-detention expansion that relied on converting commercial warehouses into large-scale holding sites.
Lawsuits by Michigan, Detroit and other localities have halted the Romulus purchase over alleged overpayment.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced Alligator Alcatraz detention center now has zero detainees and is closing.

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