The Department of Homeland Security spent £750 million ($1 billion) of taxpayer money this year purchasing warehouses for immigration detention, often paying several times over assessed market value for properties linked to investors with direct financial ties to President Donald Trump and his administration.
Financial records and property data reviewed by investigative outlet More Perfect Union show that several of these warehouse purchases were made at markups ranging from 137 percent to over 1,000 percent above estimated market valuations, in transactions that coincided with institutional investors paying off distressed loans and exiting failing properties at a substantial taxpayer-funded profit.
Data compiled by activist research group Project Salt Box, which tracks ICE detention expansion through property records and lien filings, identified a pattern in which the federal government appears to have acquired warehouses that had been sitting empty for years, often after their owners had flagged them as liabilities. Newly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has since paused further purchases and ordered a review of all contracts signed under his predecessor, Kristi Noem.
ICE's Detention Reengineering Initiative and the Military Contracting Loophole
The warehouse acquisition drive forms the centrepiece of ICE's so-called 'Detention Reengineering Initiative,' a programme designed to hold nearly 100,000 people by November 2026 through a network of repurposed commercial and industrial warehouses.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has described the vision as '(Amazon) Prime, but with human beings,' according to the House Judiciary Committee Democrats' investigation. The total projected cost of the scheme stands at £28.8 billion ($38.3 billion).
Rather than going through standard competitive federal procurement, ICE has been using a Navy contracting programme to acquire these properties, a mechanism that sidesteps the public disclosure requirements that typically accompany government real estate deals of this scale.
Congressional investigators noted that some contracts have also been shielded through non-disclosure agreements signed with local officials, preventing communities from learning details of the facilities planned in their areas.
Property Records Reveal Staggering Overpayments Across Multiple States
The scale of the alleged overpayments documented by Project Salt Box spans multiple states. In Social Circle, Georgia, DHS paid approximately £97 million ($129 million) for a warehouse previously assessed at £21.8 million ($29 million), a 333 percent premium. In Surprise, Arizona, a property valued at roughly £9 million ($12 million) in 2023 sold for £52.7 million ($70 million), a nearly 500 percent markup.
The most extreme case identified by researchers is in Socorro, Texas, where a property previously valued at £8.3 million ($11 million) sold for £92.5 million ($123 million), more than ten times its estimated worth.
In Tremont, Pennsylvania, DHS paid £89.6 million ($119 million) for a former Big Lots distribution centre that had sat empty since the retail chain went bankrupt in 2024. According to More Perfect Union, that property had been transferred to a subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital, a New York-based private equity group managing an estimated £118 billion ($157 billion) in assets, and was sold at double its estimated market value. A separate warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey, was purchased by ICE in February for £97.2 million ($129.3 million) — 137 percent above its assessed value, according to Project Salt Box — and had previously been majority-owned by Goldman Sachs.
Blue Owl, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank's Financial Stakes in the Deals
The financial institutions involved in these transactions carry well-documented ties to the Trump administration. Blue Owl Capital's owners donated heavily to Republican congressional groups during the last election cycle, and one of its directors, Edward D'Alelio, previously served on the board of Trump Entertainment Resorts.
More significantly, at least 33 members of the Trump administration, including President Trump himself, who holds more than £3.76 million ($5 million) in investments in Blue Owl funds, reported investing in the firm's various private equity vehicles, according to financial disclosures reviewed by More Perfect Union.
The proposed 1,500-bed facility in Williamsport, Maryland, involves a separate web of financial relationships. That warehouse, a long-vacant property described as a persistent liability on its owners' regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, was held by Fundrise.
Goldman Sachs subsequently refinanced the property as part of a £264.7 million ($352 million) loan in late 2025, just months before DHS purchased it. A Goldman Sachs representative told More Perfect Union: 'As a lender, we are not involved in the operations and management of the portfolios of assets we lend to. We are also not involved with the sales process of individual assets and would not share in the profit of an asset's sale if there were one.'
In Salt Lake City, Utah, DHS paid £109 million ($145 million) for a warehouse in March 2026, more than 50 percent above its estimated market value. That property had previously been held by Deutsche Bank through a series of subsidiaries.
Germany-based Deutsche Bank has a long-established financial relationship with Trump, having loaned him a cumulative estimated £1.88 billion ($2.5 billion) over two decades, including continuing to extend credit after he defaulted on a loan and subsequently sued the bank. Deutsche Bank declined to comment for More Perfect Union's report.
52 Lawmakers Launch Formal Investigation Into Contractors and Cabinet Conflicts
On 30 March 2026, Representative Jamie Raskin and Senator Elizabeth Warren led a formal congressional investigation signed by 52 lawmakers into the contractors, property owners, and real estate brokers allegedly profiting from the warehouse expansion. They wrote to six companies: CoreCivic, the GEO Group, GardaWorld Federal Services, Gosin Group, KVG LLC, and PNK Group, demanding disclosure of their expected profit margins, lobbying activity, and political donations. 'These warehouses were built to hold products, not people,' the lawmakers wrote.
The investigation also flagged specific conflicts of interest at the senior level of the Trump administration. David Venturella, who left the GEO Group to join ICE, now leads the ICE division overseeing detention contracts, even as his former employer competes for those same contracts.
Attorney General Pam Bondi previously lobbied for the GEO Group. The lawmakers also identified Tom Homan, the so-called 'Border Czar,' and former Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski as individuals who allegedly helped contractors secure government deals for personal financial gain. Contractors were given until 13 April 2026 to respond to the investigation's questions.
The warehouses may be on pause, but the money has already moved.
