The warehouse has stood vacant for months, a hulking shell of concrete, its doors closed and parking lot empty. Now, it’s on track to become the nation’s largest migrant detention center.
Tucked just east of Interstate 45 in Hutchins, population about 8,000, the building could house as many as 9,500 people as part of President Donald Trump’s push to dramatically increase deportations of undocumented migrants.
Hutchins Mayor Mario Vasquez said the city had little warning about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to use the warehouse as a holding center before deportation. Vasquez said he’s firmly opposed.
“No benefit to it whatsoever,” he said.
Breaking News
ICE officials say converting large warehouses into detention centers near major hubs will allow the agency to handle rising arrests more efficiently and avoid shuttling detainees around the country in search of space.
The competing views in Hutchins, less than 10 miles south of downtown Dallas, reflects rising tension across Texas as ICE moves forward with a major four-part expansion.
An internal agency document reviewed by The Dallas Morning News identifies, for the first time, the address of the Hutchins warehouse and names three other new centers statewide that together would add at least 20,000 beds.
The four facilities would significantly increase ICE’s detention footprint in a state where Republican leaders largely have backed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Establishing more detention facilities will expedite” the federal government’s “work to remove criminal illegals and make our communities safer,” said U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell. “We wouldn’t need to expand detention space if Joe Biden and Democrats didn’t leave our border open for four years.”
Critics say the scale of the plan could strain local infrastructure, spread fear among immigrant families and raise health and safety concerns about conditions inside large detention centers.
“We should not be housing human beings in a warehouse meant for packages,” said the Rev. Eric Folkerth, a senior pastor at Kessler Park United Methodist Church.
He and other members of the Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response rallied last week at the church, warning the massive facility would dehumanize migrants and strain local resources.
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According to the ICE document, Hutchins and El Paso would operate as “mega” detention centers, with the El Paso site holding about 8,500 people, alongside two new smaller processing centers in San Antonio and Los Fresnos.
The Washington Post last month reported on the federal efforts to open new detention centers, and the ICE documents reviewed by The News reveal specific locations, capacities and the scale of the Texas expansion.
Meantime, Dallas County Clerk John Warren told The News this week that the county had not received a deed indicating any sale of the privately owned 1 million-square-foot warehouse.
No formal notice
Vasquez, the mayor, said the city had no confirmation from federal authorities about plans to convert the empty warehouse and that he had no contact with any ICE representatives.
The agency’s Dallas office also did not respond to questions about the centers.
Tricia McLaughlin, speaking for the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, said Monday the agency has no new detention sites to announce but is expanding space nationwide as arrests rise.
“ICE is targeting the worst of the worst,” she said, adding that 70% of arrests involve people charged with or convicted of crimes.
In April, Todd Lyons, the acting director for ICE, said at a border security conference in Phoenix the agency should treat deportations in the same way Amazon delivers packages with intense speed.
He said he wanted deportations to mirror Amazon Prime “but with human beings,” according to the Arizona Mirror.
Since then, ICE arrests and detentions have surged, with at least 65,000 people in custody as of Nov. 30, according to TRAC, a research organization at Syracuse University.
Immigration attorneys and advocates say the expansion plans signal the administration intends to keep ramping up arrests.
Chelsie Kramer, the Texas organizer for the American Immigration Council, an immigrant rights group, said the planned expansion signals ICE intends to significantly increase arrests and that adding 20,000 beds points to a major escalation.
“They’re not doing it for no reason,” she said.
The planned detention center in Hutchins would be almost double the size of the largest facility in the country – opened last year in El Paso, known as Camp East Montana and able to hold 5,000.
Federal officials have said new centers will maximize efficiency and shorten detention times by creating a centralized system to process and stage migrants for deportation.
Denise Gilman, co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, warned the massive facilities could create dangerous, overcrowded conditions with poor hygiene and care, risking human rights violations.
“Immigration detention is not intended to be punitive but an administrative measure,” she said.
According to The Post, ICE plans to modify the structures to include intake areas, housing units with showers and restrooms, a kitchen, dining areas, a medical unit, indoor and outdoor recreation areas, a law library and administrative offices. Some of the facilities will include special housing designed for families in custody.
‘Infrastructure’s not there’
Gina Pointon, an immigration attorney who represents clients in the Dallas area, said the expansion undercuts Trump’s pledge to target only the “worst of the worst.”
In the Dallas region, a majority of the more than 12,000 people arrested by ICE lacked criminal convictions, The News found, signaling enforcement has broadened beyond serious offenders.
Dallas-area officials say they have received little information about the proposed center.
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Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, whose district includes Hutchins, said he opposes the facility, citing a lack of basic services needed to house thousands of people.
“The infrastructure’s not there,” Price said.
ICE officials did not answer questions about how it would acquire the property, such as leasing or an outright purchase.
It is owned by PS Hutchins Phase Two, a limited liability company registered in Delaware. Corporate filings link the entity to a general business services firm, obscuring the owner’s identity.
Al Sorrels, the real estate broker listing the property, said in a brief phone call earlier this month that he had no knowledge of any ICE plans and hung up. He did not respond to follow-up messages.
City records show no certificates of occupancy have been issued for the building in 2025 or 2026.
Texas ICE Expansion
THE PLAN: ICE plans to convert a vacant Hutchins warehouse into a 9,500-bed “mega” detention center, the largest in the nation.
WHAT’S NEW: An internal agency document obtained by The Dallas Morning News identifies the Hutchins site and three additional Texas facilities that together would add at least 20,000 detention beds.
THE NUMBERS: At least 65,000 people, as of late November, were inICE custody nationwide, according to TRAC data.
LOCAL PUSHBACK: Hutchins leaders say they were caught off guard and oppose the plan, while faith groups warn of infrastructure strain and unsafe detention conditions.
ICE’S POSITION: Agency officials say the new centers are needed to manage growing detention numbers and speed deportations.