ICE warehouse detention plan would hold tens of thousands in repurposed industrial facilities, according to draft documents
Eight months after the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement compared the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda to Amazon’s package delivery system, newly revealed documents show how federal officials plan to operationalize that vision: by converting sprawling industrial warehouses into detention sites capable of holding tens of thousands of people at a time.
A draft solicitation obtained and reported Wednesday by The Washington Post outlines ICE’s plan to ask private detention contractors to help retrofit warehouses across the country into large-scale immigration holding facilities. Each site could detain up to 10,000 people simultaneously, according to the document—an unprecedented expansion of the detention system that advocates say treats human beings like inventory in a logistics network.
The proposal calls for the rapid conversion of existing industrial spaces—structures designed for storage and distribution, not habitation—into detention centers that may lack adequate ventilation, climate control, plumbing, and sanitation.
“Warehouses are built for boxes, not humans,” said Dr. Carolyn Barber, a physician and journalist who has documented conditions inside detention facilities. “You can’t simply repurpose these spaces without creating serious risks to physical and mental health.”
A Deportation System Built for Speed
According to the draft solicitation, ICE envisions subdividing warehouse interiors into housing units with showers and bathrooms, dining areas, medical stations, recreation spaces, and law libraries. The agency says the facilities are intended to “maximize efficiency, minimize costs, shorten processing times, limit lengths of stay, accelerate the removal process, and promote the safety, dignity, and respect for all in ICE custody.”
But critics point to the administration’s own language to argue that speed—not dignity—is the guiding principle.
In April, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told a border security conference that deportations should be run “like a business,” adding, “Like Amazon Prime, but with human beings.” The comment drew immediate backlash from immigrant rights groups, particularly those representing Latino families who make up the majority of people in ICE custody.
Now, advocates say the warehouse detention plan reflects that same mindset—scaling enforcement through logistics rather than individualized due process.
“This is what happens when the government stops seeing immigrants as people and starts seeing them as units to be processed,” said Philip Mai, co-director of the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University. “They’re being warehoused like packages in a fulfillment center.”
Latino Communities Likely to Bear the Brunt
Latino immigrants—many with deep family ties in the United States—are expected to be disproportionately affected by the expansion. Large-scale detention facilities often operate far from legal services, community support networks, and family members, increasing the likelihood of prolonged detention and deportation without meaningful access to counsel.
Immigration attorneys warn that the sheer size of the proposed facilities could overwhelm oversight mechanisms, making it harder to identify medical neglect, civil rights violations, or abuses of authority.
“This model isn’t about public safety,” one legal advocate said. “It’s about volume.”
Private Contractors and Limited Transparency
The solicitation signals ICE’s intent to rely heavily on private detention companies to carry out the plan, continuing a long-standing partnership that has drawn scrutiny over accountability, cost overruns, and conditions of confinement.
ICE has not publicly released the document, and it remains unclear how many warehouses could ultimately be converted or where they would be located. The agency did not respond to questions about how it would ensure adequate health standards or legal access in facilities of this scale.
For immigrant families already living with the fear of separation, the proposal represents a chilling escalation—one that transforms deportation from a legal process into an industrial operation.
As one advocate put it: “This isn’t immigration enforcement. It’s mass detention by design.”
30 Deaths and Counting in ICE Detention Centers This Year
