ICE’s Office Grab Goes Nationwide as DHS Fast-Tracks Leases

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is on a leasing tear even as the agency’s actions come under deep scrutiny.

The agency and its parent, the Department of Homeland Security, quietly launched a months-long campaign to expand ICE’s physical footprint across the country, lining up more than 150 leases and office expansions in nearly every state, according to federal records obtained by WIRED.

Many of the planned outposts are in or just outside major metropolitan areas, often in conventional office buildings near schools, medical offices and houses of worship.

In Irvine, California, ICE is taking space next to a childcare agency. On Long Island, the agency is moving into offices near a passport center. In the Houston suburb of The Woodlands, it’s eyeing space blocks from a preschool. In El Paso, Texas, ICE is moving into a multi-building office campus off Interstate 10.

The expansion is being orchestrated by the General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s real estate portfolio. Emails and internal memoranda show DHS pushing GSA to sidestep typical procurement rules and limit public disclosure of leases, citing “national security concerns.” In September, GSA staff were assigned to an “ICE surge” team tasked with rapidly securing space for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and its legal arm, the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

“GSA is following all lease procurement procedures in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations,” the agency told the publication.

By early November, at least 19 leasing projects had been awarded in cities including Nashville, Dallas, Sacramento and Tampa, and dozens more are in the pipeline from Miami to Pittsburgh to Newark. Some sites are near existing or planned detention facilities, suggesting a coordinated expansion of enforcement.

Since Donald Trump took office in 2025, ICE has more than doubled in size to roughly 22,000 officers and agents, according to DHS, fueled by nearly $80 billion in funding under the administration’s immigration law.

Internal documents cited a need for about 250 additional locations to accommodate hiring. Instructions were to prioritize speed over buildout.

Owners of the private properties largely did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment to the publication.

— Holden Walter-Warner