ICE Spent Millions in Wasteful Detention Expansion, GAO Report Reveals
GAO finds ICE wasted millions on detention expansions. Explore the financial missteps and ongoing oversight issues.
POLICY WIRE — Washington, D.C. — A government watchdog has uncovered significant financial mismanagement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as it rushed to expand its detention capacity, resulting in the loss of millions in taxpayer funds.
During a single day in January, ICE spent more than any other day during either of President Trump’s terms, according to federal records. The agency transferred billions to Chicago Title Insurance to secure detention facilities, later using $1.07 billion to buy 11 warehouses for conversion into detention centers. However, seven of those sites are now slated for sale, with the remaining funds still held by the firm.
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ICE then redirected $2.2 billion to CoreCivic, a private prison company, to acquire additional facilities. Despite these moves, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the agency failed to consider long-term costs, leading to $20 million in unrecoverable expenses. The GAO warned that further losses could occur if the warehouses are sold below purchase price. With $1.55 billion still unspent, ICE continues efforts to double its detention bed capacity, recently awarding contracts that could total $10 billion.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
