News on ICE Warehouses

Mar 24: The state of Michigan sued to block the conversion of the Romulus warehouse citing DHS’s failure to complete the required environmental reviews and failed to notify the state or local officials about ICE’s intentions regarding the warehouse until the sale was complete. The situation in Romulus further involves a floodplain, a protected wetland easement, and two public schools.  

Mar 25: The Salt Lake City Council passed an ordinance amendment capping new, non-residential development projects to 200,000 gallons of water a day for the next 180 days. A longer-term ordinance may be necessary depending on the city’s situation. With low snowpack and high temperatures, the city is already looking to conserve water. A high-occupancy ICE warehouse facility would likely use 1-2 million gallons of water a day and present serious water problems.

Mar 25: The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma purchased the warehouse site in Durant, OK. Previously the City Council of Durant had voted unanimously to restrict property sales to ICE in an ordinance in January. The purchase of the former Big Lots distribution center adjacent to the tribe’s headquarters will allow the Choctaw Nation to develop the site as they see fit and effectively removes it from ever housing detainees.   

Mar 26: US Representative Dan Meuser (PA) announced in discussions with ICE that certain agreements had been reached concerning the sites in his state. Although not specified in writing, Meuser has said that ICE will offset losses in tax base, upgrade roads, upgrade communications between emergency services, upgrade utilities, and remedy the water/sewer issue. In addition, ICE has promised the local community 2000+ local jobs. These promises conflict with what ICE has already told the State of Pennsylvania regarding a water plan.        

Mar 26: Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity joined the State of Maryland in filing suit to halt the Williamsport warehouse site. The lawsuit alleges that the conversion of the warehouse without the required environmental reviews and public input violates several laws.  

Mar 28: Markwayne Mullin was confirmed as the new DHS secretary and moved to change an existing departmental policy. Now only contracts of $25M or more will require higher approval, which should free up some of the backlog that had been experienced under Noem. For those watching ICE warehouse contracts specifically, the Washington Post obtained a memo that indicated ICE would be slowing down issuing contracts on warehouses. The memo also suggests that ICE plans to revise its warehouse proposals and include feedback from stakeholders.

SAVE THE DATE: April 8, 4:30 MST on ZOOM

Dorian Gray from No Concentration Camps Colorado (NCCC) will address NoCCUS members on his immigration data tool called coldCounter. coldCounter is an open-source data infrastructure project that aggregates, normalizes, and documents immigration detention data. The project produces a portable SQLite data mart that allows researchers, policy analysts, and civil rights organizations to explore immigration detention records in a transparent and reproducible way. Dorian will explain how he developed the tool and how to use it. Additionally, he will address the issue of hold rooms that are being used by ICE around the country and how coldCounter can aid in highlighting violations.