An investigation by the progressive news outlet More Perfect Union revealed how members of the president's inner circle are cashing in on the Department of Homeland Security's purchase of warehouses for immigrant detention. It reported that DHS paid exorbitant prices for the warehouses, owned by financial institutions with deep connections to the Trump administration.
‘A New Level of Corruption': DHS Bought ICE Warehouses From Trump Cronies For 10x Markup "Folks very close to the White House... were sitting on properties that were causing them losses every year," said a journalist tracking the purchases.
"The decision was made to buy them at taxpayer expense. ", an investigation by the progressive news outlet revealed how members of the president's inner circle are cashing in on the Department of Homeland Security's purchase of warehouses for immigrant detention.nearly $40 billion to buy up dozens of warehouses around the US to convert them into makeshift detention camps that could each hold anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 people arrested as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation effort.
But when Mae Ryan, a reporter at More Perfect Union, looked into the contracts, she said she "noticed something weird.
" "Many of these warehouses had been sitting on the market for years," she explained in a video posted Wednesday. "Now DHS was buying them at a massive markup.
"and Customs Enforcement purchased from the company El Paso Logistics II LLC for $123 million—more than a 1,000% profit.the enormous markups for several of these warehouse purchases for his website Project Salt Box back in March, "across more than a dozen warehouse acquisitions, ICE paid prices that exceeded both prior property valuations and recent market comparables at nearly every site. " For one warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, previously valued at just under $12 million, ICE paid over $70 million.
For another in Social Circle, Georgia, valued at about $30 million, the agency paid nearly $130 million. Many of the warehouses that raked in obscene taxpayer-funded purchases by DHS were owned by financial institutions with deep connections to the Trump administration, Ryan explained. One warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey, valued at about $54.6 million in 2025, inexplicably sold to ICE for over $129 million, more than double.
Its majority owner was the investment bank, buying it for nearly $120 million despite a valuation of about $60 million. It was owned by the private capital firm Blue Owl, where at least 33of Trump's administration have investments in its funds, including the president himself, who has about $5 million invested in the firm.
Another in Salt Lake City, valued at just $97 million, was purchased by ICE for $145 million, and the agency now plans to convert it into a 10,000-bed facility. It was owned by Deutsche Bank, which hasWriston told More Perfect Union that the financial payout to Trump allies was top of mind for DHS as it drew up the controversial warehouse plan.
"ICE doesn't necessarily want to be using warehouses," he said. "The plan came from folks very close to thewho were sitting on properties that were causing them losses every year. And the decision was made to buy them at taxpayer expense.
" It's part of a larger pattern of ICE contracts being distributed to companies that have given major financial support to Trump. , the GEO Group and CoreCivic, two private prison companies that have collectively received more than $2.8 billion in ICE contracts, each donated $500,000 to Trump's inaugural committee. The GEO Group's employee-funded political action committee contributed $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. during his reelection campaign in 2024.
Those who have been held in ICE detention centers—often without any due process or access to a lawyer—have consistently reported being held into build a mass detention system that could stuff these warehouses with over 100,000 detainees at a time across more than 20 facilities.
"What we're seeing happen now—I never in a million years envisioned seeing this happen on US soil," Wriston said. "Never. Never once.
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, an investigation by the progressive news outlet revealed how members of the president's inner circle are cashing in on the Department of Homeland Security's purchase of warehouses for immigrant detention.nearly $40 billion to buy up dozens of warehouses around the US to convert them into makeshift detention camps that could each hold anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 people arrested as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation effort. But when Mae Ryan, a reporter at More Perfect Union, looked into the contracts, she said she "noticed something weird.
" "Many of these warehouses had been sitting on the market for years," she explained in a video posted Wednesday. "Now DHS was buying them at a massive markup.
"and Customs Enforcement purchased from the company El Paso Logistics II LLC for $123 million—more than a 1,000% profit.the enormous markups for several of these warehouse purchases for his website Project Salt Box back in March, "across more than a dozen warehouse acquisitions, ICE paid prices that exceeded both prior property valuations and recent market comparables at nearly every site. " For one warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, previously valued at just under $12 million, ICE paid over $70 million.
For another in Social Circle, Georgia, valued at about $30 million, the agency paid nearly $130 million. Many of the warehouses that raked in obscene taxpayer-funded purchases by DHS were owned by financial institutions with deep connections to the Trump administration, Ryan explained. One warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey, valued at about $54.6 million in 2025, inexplicably sold to ICE for over $129 million, more than double.
Its majority owner was the investment bank, buying it for nearly $120 million despite a valuation of about $60 million. It was owned by the private capital firm Blue Owl, where at least 33of Trump's administration have investments in its funds, including the president himself, who has about $5 million invested in the firm.
Another in Salt Lake City, valued at just $97 million, was purchased by ICE for $145 million, and the agency now plans to convert it into a 10,000-bed facility. It was owned by Deutsche Bank, which hasWriston told More Perfect Union that the financial payout to Trump allies was top of mind for DHS as it drew up the controversial warehouse plan.
"ICE doesn't necessarily want to be using warehouses," he said. "The plan came from folks very close to thewho were sitting on properties that were causing them losses every year. And the decision was made to buy them at taxpayer expense.
" It's part of a larger pattern of ICE contracts being distributed to companies that have given major financial support to Trump. , the GEO Group and CoreCivic, two private prison companies that have collectively received more than $2.8 billion in ICE contracts, each donated $500,000 to Trump's inaugural committee. The GEO Group's employee-funded political action committee contributed $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. during his reelection campaign in 2024.
Those who have been held in ICE detention centers—often without any due process or access to a lawyer—have consistently reported being held into build a mass detention system that could stuff these warehouses with over 100,000 detainees at a time across more than 20 facilities.
"What we're seeing happen now—I never in a million years envisioned seeing this happen on US soil," Wriston said. "Never. Never once.
"US Military Helping Trump to Build Massive Network of ‘Concentration Camps,’ Navy Contract Reveals ›, an investigation by the progressive news outlet revealed how members of the president's inner circle are cashing in on the Department of Homeland Security's purchase of warehouses for immigrant detention.nearly $40 billion to buy up dozens of warehouses around the US to convert them into makeshift detention camps that could each hold anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 people arrested as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation effort. But when Mae Ryan, a reporter at More Perfect Union, looked into the contracts, she said she "noticed something weird.
" "Many of these warehouses had been sitting on the market for years," she explained in a video posted Wednesday. "Now DHS was buying them at a massive markup.
"and Customs Enforcement purchased from the company El Paso Logistics II LLC for $123 million—more than a 1,000% profit.the enormous markups for several of these warehouse purchases for his website Project Salt Box back in March, "across more than a dozen warehouse acquisitions, ICE paid prices that exceeded both prior property valuations and recent market comparables at nearly every site. " For one warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, previously valued at just under $12 million, ICE paid over $70 million.
For another in Social Circle, Georgia, valued at about $30 million, the agency paid nearly $130 million. Many of the warehouses that raked in obscene taxpayer-funded purchases by DHS were owned by financial institutions with deep connections to the Trump administration, Ryan explained. One warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey, valued at about $54.6 million in 2025, inexplicably sold to ICE for over $129 million, more than double.
Its majority owner was the investment bank, buying it for nearly $120 million despite a valuation of about $60 million. It was owned by the private capital firm Blue Owl, where at least 33of Trump's administration have investments in its funds, including the president himself, who has about $5 million invested in the firm.
Another in Salt Lake City, valued at just $97 million, was purchased by ICE for $145 million, and the agency now plans to convert it into a 10,000-bed facility. It was owned by Deutsche Bank, which hasWriston told More Perfect Union that the financial payout to Trump allies was top of mind for DHS as it drew up the controversial warehouse plan.
"ICE doesn't necessarily want to be using warehouses," he said. "The plan came from folks very close to thewho were sitting on properties that were causing them losses every year. And the decision was made to buy them at taxpayer expense.
" It's part of a larger pattern of ICE contracts being distributed to companies that have given major financial support to Trump. , the GEO Group and CoreCivic, two private prison companies that have collectively received more than $2.8 billion in ICE contracts, each donated $500,000 to Trump's inaugural committee. The GEO Group's employee-funded political action committee contributed $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. during his reelection campaign in 2024.
Those who have been held in ICE detention centers—often without any due process or access to a lawyer—have consistently reported being held into build a mass detention system that could stuff these warehouses with over 100,000 detainees at a time across more than 20 facilities.
"What we're seeing happen now—I never in a million years envisioned seeing this happen on US soil," Wriston said. "Never. Never once.
"US Military Helping Trump to Build Massive Network of ‘Concentration Camps,’ Navy Contract Reveals › The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%.
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