The agency is shifting its approach from temporary, makeshift detention camps to more permanent facilities.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is buying up massive warehouses around the country as part of a plan to build a network of immigration detention centers, reports Hafiz Rashid in The New Republic.
According to Rashid, “The new strategy is a shift for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which has been relying on many tent camps, such as the notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” in south Florida.” The agency has already spent hundreds of millions to buy and retrofit warehouses as jails. in Maryland, Texas, Arizona, and other states.
The purchases have brought on backlash and protest from local communities, prompting some warehouse owners to back out of plans to sell to ICE. “In many places, state and local officials are arguing that these detention centers would be a threat to public safety, strain local infrastructure, and violate zoning laws.”
FULL STORY: ICE Is Buying Up Mega Warehouses Across America
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