WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Homeland Security moved to reassure a skeptical public Thursday, confirming that eleven warehouses purchased at a combined cost of more than $1 billion are, upon physical inspection, warehouses. Critics who suggested the buildings might be something other than warehouses were told to look at the buildings, which are warehouses.
"We want to be very clear," said a spokesperson for the agency, reading from a prepared statement in front of one of the warehouses. "These are warehouses. They have walls. They have roofs. Several of them have loading docks." The spokesperson paused to consult additional notes. "We are proud of the loading docks."
The eleven facilities, spread across multiple states, were acquired as part of a sweeping initiative to dramatically expand the government's capacity to detain immigrants. The plan called for rapid conversion of the warehouse spaces into functional detention centers. As of press time, this conversion has not begun. Officials say the warehouses remain in a preparatory phase best described as "being warehouses."
"The important thing is we have the warehouses. What goes inside them is really a second-step conversation."
— Senior DHS Official, who asked not to be identified because they are standing in an empty warehouse
Procurement records reviewed by Govment.org show that the agency began the warehouse acquisition process in 2024 following internal projections that detention capacity would need to expand significantly. The records do not show any subsequent projections regarding what to do with warehouses once purchased. A follow-up memo titled "Phase Two: The Warehouse Phase" remains classified.
Congressional oversight has been limited. A spokesperson for the House Appropriations Committee confirmed that members were "aware that warehouses cost money" and indicated that a hearing on the matter could be scheduled "once everyone gets back from recess, probably." Senate leadership did not respond to requests for comment, as the Senate was also on recess, as it frequently is.
Community advocates near several of the facilities expressed concern not about the warehouses' existence, but about the vagueness of their purpose. "No one will tell us what's going in there," said one resident near a 200,000-square-foot facility in an undisclosed location. "We asked. They said 'stuff.' We asked what kind of stuff. They said 'government stuff.' That was the whole meeting."
DHS officials emphasized that the warehouses represent a significant investment in America's future readiness to have places to put things, and noted that all eleven structures have passed basic building inspections. "These are not theoretical warehouses," a second spokesperson clarified at a follow-up briefing held inside a warehouse. "You can touch them. We encourage the public to look at them from the outside." Reporters who asked to go inside were told the inside was "still being warehoused."
At publication time, DHS had issued a supplementary statement confirming that the warehouses also have floors.