U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is putting out feelers about renting “coworking space” in 42 states and Puerto Rico, with ICE employees setting up shop in each for a year, according to federal procurement documents reviewed by The Independent.
A request for information issued March 20 by the Department of Homeland Security – ICE’s parent entity – seeks details on obtaining “flexible workspace (private offices and/or workstations) for assigned ICE personnel at approved coworking locations.”
There are nearly 100 cities on the list, from New York City to Seattle to Casper, Wyoming to Hot Springs, South Dakota.
The “coworking sites and initial workspace allocations” will need to accommodate more than 300 ICE employees in 99 separate locales, according to the RFI. It says the spaces must provide Wi-Fi access and “printing privileges,” and that the leases will run 12 months, to begin when a contract is awarded by ICE’s Washington Office of Mission Support.
It is unclear why ICE specified it wants “coworking” space, and if the agency would be willing to share space in a traditional coworking setup. An October 2025 tender issued by ICE sought “as-is, fully-finished and furnished office space,” and said it would not “consider collocation with agencies or tenants whose primary clientele or operations could present security, operational, or reputational conflicts with law enforcement functions.”
ICE did not respond on Monday to a request for comment.
As ICE’s physical footprint has ballooned under President Donald Trump, locals have overwhelmingly declared the deep-pocketed deportation agency unwelcome in their communities.
In many instances, the facilities are located near elementary schools, doctors’ offices, houses of worship, and “other sensitive locations,” according to a Wired investigation published last month. The outlet described a “secret campaign” being carried out by ICE and DHS to place street-level agents and ICE attorneys in office spaces across the U.S., often without advance warning.
Last month, in-person classes at a college in suburban Chicago were halted and moved online after school administrators became aware of an “ICE presence” in the same building where it offers business and nursing instruction, ABC7 reported. Lewis University Provost Christopher Sindt told the outlet he first learned ICE had moved in thanks to social media.
“Most notably, this weekend, there were many SUV vehicles parked on the campus or in the parking structure for the campus,” Sindt said. “... We felt like it was a really volatile, potentially volatile environment this week for our students to attend class.”
Also last month, after ICE was discovered to have rented space in a Berwyn, Pennsylvania, office park about a mile away from an elementary school, state Rep. Melissa Shusterman issued a statement lamenting the fact that she had “limited legislative options to bring ICE under control.”
“But, I am also a citizen who will not stand for my communities and neighbors being put in danger,” Shusterman said. “We will not stand by idly as families are traumatized. We will not be silent. We will insist on law and order and stand with our local and state police who live in the communities they serve.”
Similarly, local officials in New Windsor, New York said they had no idea that ICE had been operating “for months” out of a leased office space in their town, according to the Middletown Times Herald-Record. The building houses a branch of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, public records show.
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a combat veteran who graduated from West Point, pushed back firmly against ICE posting up in New Windsor, gathering 20,000 signatures in opposition.
“The Administration continues to escalate directly against the will of the people of the Hudson Valley, who strongly reject ICE’s dangerous, unconstitutional, un-American attempts to move into our community, terrorize our neighbors, and make us all less safe,” Ryan said in a statement released February 11. “Especially after what we’ve seen in Minnesota – the surge of agents killing civilians, detaining children, and breaking into people’s homes, we should all be concerned about their repeated attempts to move into our community… The power to keep ICE out is in our hands – and I won’t give up this fight.”
According to the latest ICE procurement data, responses from interested vendors to offer ICE coworking spaces are due March 31.
If and when the contract is finalized, the ICE coworking spaces are expected to be located in: Alabama (Huntsville, Montgomery); Arizona (Concho, Pima, Casa Grande, Chandler, Eloy, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Sierra Vista, Tucson); California (San Diego, Long Beach, Morgan Hill, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Ana, Rocklin); Colorado (Colorado Springs); Connecticut (Hartford); Delaware (Wilmington); Florida (Bradenton, Ft. Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Niceville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, West Palm Beach); Georgia (Atlanta, East Point, Leesburg); Hawaii (Honolulu); Illinois (Chicago, Rock Island); Indiana (Indianapolis); Kansas (Manhattan, Kansas City); Kentucky (Louisville); Louisiana (Baton Rouge); Massachusetts (Boston, Burlington); Maryland (Baltimore, Frederick); Maine (Portland, Scarborough, Caribou); Michigan (Grand Rapids); Minnesota (Fort Snelling); Missouri (Kansas City, St Louis); Mississippi (Hattiesburg, Vicksburg, Gulfport); Montana (Savage); North Carolina (Cary, Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh); New Hampshire (Manchester); Nebraska (Omaha); New Jersey (Mt. Laurel); New York (New York City); Ohio (Brooklyn Heights, Westerville); Oregon (Portland, Roseburg); Pennsylvania (Allentown, Altoona); Puerto Rico (San Juan); Rhode Island (Crawford); South Carolina (Summerville, Columbia); South Dakota (Hot Springs, Mitchell); Tennessee (Knoxville, Nashville); Texas (Austin, Bryan, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, Cibolo); Utah (West Valley City); Virginia (Norfolk, North Chesterfield); Vermont (Derby, Williston); Washington (Seattle); Wisconsin (Maynes); West Virginia (Martinsburg, Milton); Wyoming (Casper).
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