ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here's Where It's Going Next [View all]

https://www.wired.com/story/ice-expansion-across-us-at-heres-where-its-going-next/

Federal records obtained by WIRED show that over the past several months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have carried out a secret campaign to expand ICE’s physical presence across the US. Documents show that more than 150 leases and office expansions have or would place new facilities in nearly every state, many of them in or just outside of the country’s largest metropolitan areas. In many cases, these facilities, which are to be used by street-level agents and ICE attorneys, are located near elementary schools, medical offices, places of worship, and other sensitive locations.

In El Paso, Texas, for example, the agency is moving into a large campus of buildings right off of Interstate 10 near multiple local health providers and other businesses. In Irvine, California, ICE is moving into offices located next to a childcare agency. In New York, ICE is moving into offices on Long Island near a passport center. In a wealthy community near Houston, Texas, ICE appears poised to move into an office building blocks away from a preschool.

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As of January, ICE’s expansion is heavily concentrated in a few key states. Texas has at least 9 leasing projects underway. In Harlingen, located near the US border with Mexico, a lease has been awarded at 222 East Van Buren, in the same building as the city’s Department of Labor–aligned outpost. (ICE has already detained dozens of Harlingen-area residents.) In the Woodlands, a district near Houston, ICE appears poised to move into an office building at 1780 Hughes Landing Boulevard, blocks away from a Primrose preschool. In El Paso, ICE is moving into the Epicenter Office Community, a large campus of buildings right off Interstate 10 near many local health providers and other businesses. In San Antonio, ICE is considering a move into a building located at 15727 Anthem Parkway, near apartment buildings, dozens of restaurants, and the Methodist Hospital Landmark. In Eagle Pass, ICE appears to be looking at a move into a building at 3381 US Highway 277, where at least one government office—the Drug Enforcement Administration—is already located.

A Trump administration official recently told WIRED that California and New York are “next” for the type of fraud investigation that culminated in 3,000 ICE agents in Minneapolis. At least seven leasing projects are underway in California. In Sacramento, ICE has installed security features at the John E. Moss building ahead of further expansion. The location is already the site of a Justice Department immigration court. In Irvine, a city in Orange County located an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, ICE is moving into offices on 2020 Main Street, located right next to the airport and a childcare agency. In Van Nuys, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, ICE is expanding its offices at the James C. Corman federal building that also has offices for the IRS and Health and Human Services. Further expansion of ICE offices is also underway throughout the state, in federal buildings in Los Angeles, at San Diego’s Edward J. Schwartz Courthouse and federal building, and in Santa Ana’s federal building. The Santa Ana federal building is located within blocks of a church, the stadium for one of the nation's top high school football programs, and many government services.

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