Rashida Tlaib

Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, has introduced a bill that aims to bar U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from transforming warehouses into detention centers.

The legislation, called the Ban Warehouse Detention Act, comes in response to plans from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes ICE, to use or convert industrial warehouses around the country into detention facilities to house immigrants.

Asked about Tlaib's bill, ICE said in a statement to The Detroit News that all of its detention facilities operate in "strict accordance" with federal detention standards for safety, sanitation, and humane treatment.

Newsweek has contacted DHS and ICE for further comment via email.

Michigan and the city of Romulus have filed a lawsuit against DHS challenging a plan to convert a warehouse in Romulus into a detention facility. Last month, the Michigan attorney general's office asked a judge to block DHS from taking any action to convert the warehouse into a detention facility while the lawsuit proceeds, The Detroit News reported. A hearing on the request for a preliminary injunction is set for May 18.

Meanwhile, a new tool seeking to help Americans “crowd cancel” ICE detention facilities before they open was launched this week.

Why It Matters

Federal immigration officials have been scouting warehouses across the county as part of a massive $45 billion expansion of ICE detention facilities that would significantly increase ICE detention capacity. In many cases, the purchases have been marked by secrecy.

As public support for ICE and President Donald Trump’s administration's aggressive immigration crackdown has fallen, the plans for new detention centers have been met with opposition from communities, with some objecting to ICE's presence and others questioning whether the facilities would strain local resources.

A Senate investigation has also detailed human rights abuses, poor conditions and the abuse of pregnant women and children in existing immigration detention centers nationwide. Tlaib and others warn confining immigrants in warehouse detention centers would increase the likelihood of abuse and death of people in ICE custody.

What To Know

The Ban Warehouse Detention Act would prohibit the DHS, including ICE, from establishing, operating, expanding, converting, or renovating any warehouse or similar building or structure for the purposes of detaining people, according to a news release from the congresswoman's office.

The bill would also prevent the administration from establishing any new immigrant detention models.

“From Romulus to cities across the country, we do not want ICE cages in our communities. ICE and CBP are murdering people in the streets, tearing families apart, abducting our neighbors, and locking them in cages,” Tlaib said in a statement.

“Now they are attempting to buy and convert warehouses across our country into massive prison camps to expand their operations, despite strong local opposition in communities like mine. This will only increase the serious human rights abuses and trauma on immigrant families including medical neglect, inhumane conditions, and rising deaths. The Ban Warehouse Detention Act would stop this expansion by prohibiting the use of warehouses for immigration detention.”

Representative Jesús García, an Illinois Democrat who is among the bill’s co-sponsors, said in a statement that “human beings do not belong in warehouses" and that "local communities do not want these torture factories in their backyards."

"From Arizona to New Hampshire, even Republican local elected officials oppose these warehouses. Not one penny of our tax dollars should be going towards these massive detention centers,” the congressman added.

Days after he was sworn in as DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin paused plans to purchase new warehouses to detain immigrants, NBC News and the Associated Press recently reported, citing unnamed senior department officials.

Two senior DHS officials told NBC News the pause may be temporary, but plans are moving forward to develop facilities that have already been purchased.

According to the AP, 11 warehouses have been purchased so far in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah, with the federal government spending a combined $1.074 billion.

During his confirmation hearing, Mullin was pressed by Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, on whether he would commit to not opening new ICE facilities without the support of local communities.

"I will not be able to speak to that until I understand the risk and the reason behind delivering the mission that's set in front of us. We have to protect the homeland and we're gonna do that," he said.

"But obviously, we want to work with community leaders," Mullin added. "We want to be good partners."

Full List of Bill’s Sponsors

The bill's 14 Democratic co-sponsors are:

Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas

Representative Yvette Clarke of New York

Representative Danny Davis of Illinois

Representative Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois

Representative Sylvia Garcia of Texas

Representative Dan Goldman of New York

Representative Al Green of Texas

Representative Adelita Grijalva of Arizona

Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia

Representative April McClain Delaney of Maryland

Representative Kelly Morrison of Minnesota

Representative Delia Ramirez of Illinois

Representative Andrea Salinas or Oregon

Representative Shri Thanedar of Michigan

What Happens Next

Tlaib’s bill was introduced in the House on Thursday and has been referred to the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, where it could face hearings, amendments, or stall without action.

Meanwhile, nationwide protests against ICE's plans to expand detention facilities are set to take place on Saturday.