The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog announced an audit Wednesday into a now-paused plan to turn warehouses into immigration detention centers.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s $38 billion program would have housed more than 92,000 immigrants in retrofitted warehouses, a proposal that sparked multiple lawsuits and bipartisan backlash from lawmakers. Markwayne Mullin paused the project when he took over as secretary, but the DHS inspector general is now launching an inquiry into the warehouses the agency had already purchased. The investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“DHS OIG can confirm this audit was announced recently,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “However, as a matter of course, we do not provide any additional information publicly on the scale or scope of our ongoing work.”
Before Noem was ousted, Immigration and Customs Enforcement purchased at least 11 vacant warehouses, paying between $35 million and $145 million each for properties in Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan and Utah — more than the market rate for similar warehouses, according to a March report from real estate analytics company CoStar. ICE also awarded federal contracts to renovate and run the warehouses to companies with little experience in federal immigration detention, according to the Journal.
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One of the federal government’s go-to companies for immigration detention told investors in February about the challenges presented by the warehouse plan.
“As far as the physical plant renovations of a warehouse to get it operational, it’s complicated, and then the operational implications of how you manage such a facility, particularly a large-scale facility, is going to be concerning,” said George Zoley, executive chairman of the Geo Group.
DHS had already retreated in some states after Republicans, including New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, criticized the plans. Lawmakers who otherwise support cracking down on illegal immigration pushed back after local leaders raised concerns about safety and strain on rural communities’ infrastructure.
“I’m looking for a more deliberative process that works with state and local governments to look at opportunities,” Wicker told NOTUS after President Donald Trump tapped Mullin, who had been an Oklahoma senator, to lead DHS.
The agency also offered to scale back the capacity of warehouses turned into detention centers in Arizona and Maryland, offering to house 542 detainees instead of 1,500 in each, Stateline reported.
The audit is the latest probe into DHS actions under Noem. The Office of the Inspector General is also investigating the handling of contracts last year, including former senior adviser Corey Lewandowski’s role in the process. Investigators searched the office of Kara Voorhies, a contractor who worked closely with Lewandowski, The Wall Street Journal reported in March.
Republicans and Democrats are also investigating Voorhies’ role in the Federal Emergency Management Agency contracting process. She had unusually substantial influence in reviewing DHS contracts, NOTUS previously reported.
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