Federal immigration officials told a court on Monday, June 22 that they will sell the Romulus warehouse at the center of the ice warehouse detention lawsuits and no longer intend to turn it into an immigration detention facility. The filing said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plan to update the judge on or before July 17.
DHS Filing In Federal Court
The court filing said DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement no longer intend to convert the Romulus Warehouse into an immigration detention facility and intend to sell the warehouse. DHS bought the building at 7525 Cogswell St. in February for about $34.7 million, after the same site sold for about $22.1 million in 2023.
That filing gives the first formal signal that the government is backing away from the use planned for the site. For residents of Romulus and metro Detroit, the practical effect is that the warehouse is no longer being presented to the court as a detention facility in the government’s own filing.
Dana Nessel Lawsuit Over Site
Earlier this year, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Romulus city leaders filed a lawsuit over the site. Nessel later called the sale a victory for the residents of Romulus and for the entire metro region. She also said, “The ICE warehouse proposal was every bit as ill-conceived as it was cruel and unnecessary, and I am relieved that this chapter is coming to a close.”
Heather Miller, who leads the Detroit Committee to Stop ICE, said, “The hundreds of metro Detroiters and others who joined our protests week after week at the ICE camp gate in Romulus have sent a thundering message to every corner of the country,” and added, “And that message is: If people mobilize in the streets now they can drive out ICE.”
Van Buren Township Leases
The Romulus filing comes after officials in Van Buren Township worried ICE might also pursue a facility in the western Wayne County community earlier this year. Ron Akers said the federal government never purchased the buildings there, and he said there are six active leases tied to the Van Buren Township building that run through 2032.
The Romulus filing leaves one practical point for the court to sort out: DHS says it will sell the warehouse, but it also said it will update the judge on the property on or before July 17. Whether the Romulus property will actually be sold by then, and to whom, is not answered in the filing.
