America's federal watchdog has launched a formal audit into how the Department of Homeland Security spent nearly £760m ($1bn) buying warehouses at above-market rates, targeting Kristi Noem's £28.6bn ($38.3bn) plan to overhaul ICE detention.
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General confirmed it is reviewing ICE's acquisition of detention space, focusing squarely on the ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative that Noem championed during her 14-month tenure. The programme, funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill and designed to house more than 92,000 detainees in converted industrial warehouses, drew bipartisan criticism long before the watchdog stepped in.
