New details emerge about ICE plans, rationale for Romulus, Michigan, facility in court papers

ROMULUS, Mich. - The U.S. Homeland Security Department bought a Romulus warehouse this year because "political opposition" to immigration enforcement limited the department's options, according to documents filed Tuesday.

The documents were filed in federal court as part of a lawsuit by the Michigan attorney general to stop construction of a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center at 7525 Cogswell Road in Romulus. The Detroit News reviewed the documents, which held new details about the plans and reasons for purchasing the facility.

Opposition to ICE and proposed immigration detention centers has led to more laws, regulations and ordinances that make it difficult for governments and contractors to provide the agency with detention services, said James Ingalsbe, ICE assistant director of the Office of Asset and Facilities management, in the filing.

"ICE determined that buying properties for detention purposes was the most reliable approach going forward to ensure the availability of detention space for its immigration law enforcement mission," Ingalsbe said.

Another ICE official, Shawn Byers, claimed that if DHS is not permitted to turn the property into a detention center, the agency would be forced to "make difficult determinations," like transporting detainees to other states or simply not arresting them.

DHS responds to lawsuit

DHS filed nearly 500 pages of documents to supplement a response filed Tuesday to the request by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Romulus for a temporary injunction for the center while the lawsuit is ongoing.

The department argued in its response to the injunction request that ICE needed a dedicated detention center in Metro Detroit because the two closest facilities with immigrant detention space are provided through agreements with St. Clair and Monroe counties, which has space for up to 150 immigrant detainees between the two facilities.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond for comment Thursday.

The North Lake Detention Facility in Baldwin, Michigan, with capacity for up to 1,810 people is located about three hours outside Detroit, which DHS argues "presents operational impracticalities for daily use."

Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a focus. ICE operations have taken place across the United States, including in Michigan, where ICE has arrested thousands of people.

The proposed detention center in Romulus has generated backlash, including from Mayor Robert McCraight, and other local elected officials.

Warehouse purchase challenged on procedure

DHS purchased the Romulus warehouse, covering about a quarter-million square feet, on Feb. 4 for $34.7 million. The next day, the agency posted a notice required of potential actions in floodplains, according to a declaration in the lawsuit filings by Andrew DeGregorio, ICE's Energy and Environmental Programs manager in the Office of Asset and Facilities Management.

Nessel and the city of Romulus sued DHS and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin in March, contending a detention center was inappropriate for the property near Detroit Metro Airport because of the possibility of flooding, concerns the site doesn't have enough sewage capacity for a detention center, and its close proximity to schools and residential neighborhoods.

McCraight said he hadn't yet gone through the hundreds of pages of filings in the lawsuit. But he told The News the city maintains that the agency flouted its own established procedures in how it has pursued the facility.

"The crux of our case is they didn't follow their own procedure, and they didn't," he said.

The lawsuit argues President Donald Trump's administration has flouted the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which applies to administrative agencies, about an appropriate place for detention, existing facilities and the consideration of environmental consequences.

DHS responded this week, arguing the federal court doesn't have jurisdiction to review the agency's authority to select places of detention. DHS also contends the injuries the state argues it will suffer are speculative and don't meet the standard necessary for an injunction.

"The acquisition of the Romulus Warehouse - a direct manifestation of this statutory responsibility - represents a critical exercise of the Secretary's statutory discretion under the (Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952) to arrange for appropriate detention space in a key logistical corridor," wrote DHS in the agency's response filed Tuesday. "Plaintiffs now seek ‘extraordinary remedy' of a preliminary injunction to halt this federal action."

The filing called the lawsuit's allegations over traffic, flooding and sewage capacity "hypothetical future harms," as are claims a detention facility will cause reputational harm, lost business and income, and a strain on public safety resources in Romulus.

"Not only is the harm speculative, the speculation contravenes the well-trod assumption that government actors are presumed to properly execute their duties," DHS said in the filing.

Documents reveal new details about plan

The filing also laid out the agency's plans to renovate the warehouse by building 3,800 feet of fencing, adding exterior lighting and security cameras, and constructing a security checkpoint.

ICE's Byers said in the filings that ICE must construct the fencing, lighting and security cameras before construction is complete at the site, because ICE detention facilities have been the target of vandalism and arson.

He wrote that at the Romulus property, "signs indicating the property was U.S. government property and stating 'no trespassing' were defaced with graffiti."

Images included in the filings showed that the planned fencing would run around the perimeter of the property, while lights would be mounted on the building and on poles at even intervals around the perimeter of the facility.

The proposed site plan also included an emergency generator and new fiber optic cable.

According to the document, the facility will have standard housing areas or "pods," as well as American with Disabilities Act-compliant pods and behavioral and special housing.

There was no estimated cost in the DHS project proposal.

An environmental and historic preservation review by DHS found the proposed changes to the Romulus property would not harm the ecosystem or cultural resources.

But a memo from a DHS environmental protection specialist raised the issue of lead contamination under the surface of soil on the property. The specialist recommended that if a "sensitive population" were to come in contact with the soil, DHS would need to further test for heavy metals.

The contamination stemmed from the property's earlier use as a junkyard, according to the memo.

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 6:52 PM.