"ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here's Where It's Going Next"

[orleans]

ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, monthslong expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

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.

more

https://www.wired.com/story/ice-expansion-across-us-at-heres-where-its-going-next/
archive link: (no paywall) https://archive.is/ngz98

when i googled to find a list of new offices ICE has in 2026 google ai wrote:

In early 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is aggressively expanding with over 150 new offices, focusing heavily on regions with previously minimal activity, including major expansions in Texas, California, and New York. The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) is opening new legal offices in cities such as Birmingham, AL; Raleigh, NC; Nashville, TN; and several locations in Florida, Iowa, and Idaho to handle increased caseloads.

Key Locations for New/Expanded ICE Offices (2026):
North Carolina: Raleigh
Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Tampa
Texas: Multiple, with at least nine new leasing projects underway
Alabama: Birmingham
Iowa: Des Moines
Idaho: Boise, Coeur d'Alene
Kentucky: Louisville
Louisiana: Baton Rouge
Michigan: Grand Rapids
Missouri: St. Louis
New York: Long Island
Ohio: Columbus
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh
South Carolina: Charleston, Columbia
Tennessee: Nashville
Virginia: Richmond
Wisconsin: Milwaukee
Potential Detention Facility Locations:
Virginia: Augusta Correctional Center (Craigsville)
North Carolina: Rivers Correctional Facility (Winton), former American Hebrew Academy (Greensboro)
Pennsylvania: Near Harrisburg

This rapid expansion includes new, smaller offices often situated near schools, churches, and courthouses, as part of a broader, well-funded effort to increase detention and enforcement capacity.

and this:

In 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is undergoing a massive nationwide expansion, securing over 150 new leases and office expansions following a record 120% increase in manpower. This "surge" includes new field offices for the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) across nearly every state.
Confirmed New Field Office & Legal Expansion Locations

According to internal memoranda and recent reports, ICE is establishing or significantly expanding its presence in the following cities in 2026:
Alabama: Birmingham.
Arizona: Surprise.
California: Irvine (near a childcare agency) and Sacramento.
Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Naples (Vineyards Blvd), Orlando (Transport Drive), and Tampa.
Georgia: College Park (new satellite office south of Atlanta).
Idaho: Boise and Coeur d'Alene.
Indiana: Carmel.
Iowa: Des Moines.
Kentucky: Louisville.
Louisiana: Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Maryland: Hunt Valley (Cockeysville/McCormick Road).
Michigan: Grand Rapids (Waters Center) and Southfield (One Towne Square).
Missouri: St. Louis.
New Jersey: Roxbury (Route 46).
New York: Long Island (near a passport center).
North Carolina: Raleigh (near downtown).
Ohio: Columbus.
Oklahoma: Oklahoma City.
Pennsylvania: Berwyn (Westlakes Office Park), Philadelphia (Center City/Arch Street), and Pittsburgh.
South Carolina: Charleston and Columbia.
Tennessee: Nashville.
Texas: Dallas, El Paso (Interstate 10 campus), and Houston.
Virginia: Ashland (Lakeridge Parkway) and Richmond.
Washington: Spokane and Tukwila (Riverfront Technical Park).
Wisconsin: Milwaukee.
See more
Massive Infrastructure Expansion (Late 2026)
By November 30, 2026, ICE plans to activate a larger network of facilities to support its "mass deportation" initiative:
8 "Mega-Centers": Large-scale detention facilities designed to hold 10,000 detainees each.
16 Regional Processing Sites: Strategic centers holding 1,000 to 1,500 detainees at a time.
Warehouse Retrofitting: $38.3 billion has been allocated to convert warehouses into detention centers nationwide.

i think it's important people know where these ice locations are, if they are in your neighborhood, next to your preschool, medical center, elementary schools, near places of worship. i wish i could find addresses (instead of just the town) to be more specific.

i'm older, my daughter is grown up. but if this was happening when she was a kid i'd want to know where these fucking locations were around me. i'd shop in the next town rather than going to stores or shopping areas where ICE was. i'd pick her up from school instead of having her and her friends take a bus home, or drive them to school so they wouldn't be standing at a bus stop. i know not everyone can do that (car issues, work issues) but if i was them i'd want to know what was in my neighborhood/town and what i needed to avoid and look out for.
anyway, ...

[jmbar2]

1. Thank you for sharing this

We are on edge on the Oregon central coast over their desire to open transit camps here. We had major demonstrations against their first attempt and they backed off. Then said that they were only holding off until May.

Today, I noticed a high number of large trucks with no front license plates around town. That's normally illegal. I think they are ICE. The occupants of the trucks look like goons.

[hlthe2b]

2. Well, I have the front door window to demand a judicial warrant & bear spray if they come in without..

(No, I'm not an immigrant nor a POC, but I suppose that I AM an "uppity liberal feminist US Citizen defender of the Constitution" so, who knows?.

If they come to my area of Colorado, I will have signs printed up to the effect that a judicial warrant (NOT administrative) is required for entry or discussion (beyond a closed door session. with home-owner/residents at my home address. A reminder NOT to open the door even a crack because once they stick a boot in the door, you can no longer shut the door else you will be accused/charged with assault. Make sure everyone living or visiting your home know NOT TO OPEN THE DOOR TO ICE WITHOUT A JUDICIAL WARRANT. Show your family members how to tell the difference from the samples available online.

Remember, if they stop you in your car, you can't refuse to show license/registration as you would for a
police officer, but answer no questions as to where you are going or coming from or on any other topic. You don't have to provide explanations. Merely politely state you will not be answering questions. You may WANT TO, thinking the questions posed are "innocuous," but just don't. They may not be. They can make you get out of the car and if they DO, lock the door (if you have electronic locks) as soon as you exit the car so there is no question that you have NOT approved a search. If they ask you to unlock the car, state that you will require a judicial warrant and do NOT consent to a search (no, of course you have nothing for them to find, but don't take a chance at their "planting" something). Besides their request is not legally required sans warrant. Oh, and if asked to step out of the car, your passengers will have to do so too--regardless. As we have seen for months, use your cell phone or dash camera to record the encounter. If you are in a state where ACLU allows for recordings to be automatically uploaded to their secured website, do so. But, disable the fingerprint or facial recognition on your cellphone so that they can not get past the need for a court order for your pin number.

Yeah, the legalities are numerous and I never thought any of us would have to consider the minute-by-minute need to take these precautions, but we are living in a very different world now.

[orleans]

6. thank you, "uppity liberal feminist US Citizen defender of the Constitution"

(i chuckled when i read that!)

thank you for these details you listed. good to know.

[Fichefinder]

3. Surprise, Arizona is standing up and fighting back

[RT Atlanta]

4. sooner/later this will collide with someone who refuses to be taken in 'stand your ground' states

From the list above, those 'stand your ground' states are:

AL
AZ
FL
GA
ID
IA
KY
LA
MI
MO
NC
OH
OK
PA
SC
TN
TX

[orleans]

8. i'm sure all the red states will be thrilled to have ICE up their asses. after all, that's what they voted for, right?

that and the price of those fu*king eggs

(& when i say "thrilled" i'm only partially being sarcastic)

[Jack Valentino]

5. Good that they intend to move in so close to pre-schools---- that way

the little children won't have to walk so far,
to protest against ICE, and possibly get tear-gassed!

(not that I want the pre-schoolers to get tear-gassed,
but it is to be expected--- perhaps we need to invest in
pre-school sized gas masks!)

[Norrrm]

7. Jobs program for KKK, Nazis, and Proud Boys?

[LymphocyteLover]

15. and the overall fascist program to round up all dissidents

[Ocelot II]

9. Start organizing on the neighborhood level if you haven't yet.

Mutual aid networks, relentless observation (video everything), peaceful demonstrations and direct nonviolent action, and don't let up.

[multigraincracker]

10. As a voter I don't approve of my tax dollars going for this.

[Deuxcents]

11. Neither do I and they're wanting even more funds to expand. They don't plan on leaving

[artemisia1]

12. Thanks for the info. I hope they don't come to Reno, NV, where I live. I have many fine hispanic neighbors I do NOT

want terrorized by these thugs.

[1WorldHope]

13. This is utter bullshit and it needs to stop.

They are actively building concentration camps for United States citizens these people have to be stopped now!

[LilElf70]

14. Trump and Miller

are bound and determined to get millions of people deported by election day, so they can use it as an accomplishment of their policy.

[Initech]

16. Their obsession with childcare is fucking weird.

Like truly, deeply weird. If anything, these psychos need to be kept extremely far away from childcare centers.

[quakerboy]

17. They are going anywhere where there might be

voters.