ICE is looking into 'mobile detention facilities'

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents walk a detainee out of the Ventura County Government Center in Ventura, Calif., on July 27. Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to create "mobile detention facilities" for immigrant detainees in Pennsylvania, according to publicly available government documents. It's part of a massive detention expansion that began last year when the agency turned into the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency , with a $75 billion supplement from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act .

This shift in strategy comes after ICE started buying large warehouses nationwide to turn into mega detention centers .

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons described wanting squads of trucks rounding up immigrants and having the deportation process run like " [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings ."

The plans faced widespread pushback from communities near the warehouses and from immigration activists.

"I don't understand. What do we need this for?" Linda Powell, a resident of Williamsport, Md., told NPR in March.

ICE had recently purchased a warehouse near her home, and she was worried about the impact on the town's infrastructure. She also had humanitarian concerns about conditions in the facility: "We don't need it here."

This was the sentiment in various towns that staged protests. Several states, including Maryland, sued . ICE has since backed off the plans and, according to data gathered by watchdog group Project Salt Box , is selling most of those warehouses , indicating that the project has largely failed.