Tlaib pushes bill to ban ICE from using warehouses as detention centers

Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News on Apr 23, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Detroit U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib introduced legislation Thursday in Congress aiming to bar federal officials from using or renovating warehouses or similar structures to detain immigrants as the Trump administration plans to do at a site in Romulus, Michigan.

Tlaib's bill is in response to the Department of Homeland Security's $38 billion plan to use or convert about two dozen industrial warehouses around the country in a bid to increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention capacity, including the 250,000-square-foot property at 7525 Cogswell Road in Romulus not far from Detroit Metro Airport.

"Auto jobs were supposed to be created in this warehouse. Instead, they're slated to put hundreds of bodies in that facility, caging hundreds of our immigrant neighbors," Tlaib said Thursday during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol.

"They will only increase the serious human rights abuses and trauma on immigrant families, including medical neglect and inhumane conditions and rising deaths. Warehouses like this are built for storing products, not people."

The bill's 14 Democratic co-sponsors include Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit. DHS paid $34.7 million in February for the Romulus warehouse that would house about 500 people.

Asked about Tlaib's bill, ICE in a Thursday statement said all of its detention facilities operate in "strict accordance" with federal detention standards for safety, sanitation, and humane treatment that are "not optional — they are mandatory and strictly monitored."

"ICE is committed to transparency and accountability and regularly conducts inspections to ensure the well-being of individuals in its care," the agency said in an emailed statement. "In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens."

In court filings, the Trump administration has said that it purchased the Romulus facility to fill a gap in ICE's detention capacity in the Detroit metropolitan area. DHS purchased the warehouse with "scalability" in mind to convert it into detention space for 2,000 detainees, though ICE currently does not expect to house more than 500 at the facility.

Officials in the court filings also said the Romulus project is still in the pre-construction planning phases, with work expected to add temporary fencing and surveillance in response to recent incidents of vandalism.

After he was sworn in to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in late March, Secretary Markwayne Mullin's agency paused the purchase of new warehouses for immigrant detention amid a review of contracts signed under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The Associated Press reported as of April 1 that 11 warehouses had been purchased in Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah, with the federal government spending a combined $1.074 billion.

Mullin said during his confirmation hearing that he wanted to “be good partners" after Noem's warehouse plan faced opposition in communities around the country. “We’ve got to protect the homeland and we’re going to do that,” Mullin said. “But obviously we want to work with community leaders.”

ICE told The News that the Romulus facility and its construction are expected to bring 1,458 jobs to the area and would contribute $149.9 million to the economy, though “these economic benefits don’t even take into account that removing criminals from the streets makes communities safer for business owners and customers."

The Michigan Attorney General's office last month asked a judge to block DHS from turning the Romulus warehouse into a detention facility or jailing anyone there while the state's lawsuit over plans for the site works its way through court.

A hearing on the AG's request for a preliminary injunction is set for May 18 in U.S. District Court.

The underlying lawsuit argues that the site near Detroit Metropolitan Airport is not suited for a detention center because of its proximity to nearby schools and residential neighborhoods, and concerns over flooding and traffic.

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