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GAO says ICE 'has wasted funds' on detention expansion: it bought 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion, now plans to sell seven that cost $707 million, and has $313 million obligated to renovate one in Surprise, Arizona that it has agreed in court not to convert until an environmental review is finished.

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GAO report GAO-26-108663, dated September 24, examines how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is spending its new detention money, which includes $45 billion for detention capacity through fiscal year 2029. Between January and April 2026 ICE bought 11 warehouses for about $1.07 billion. In June it told GAO it was working with the General Services Administration to sell seven of them, which cost $707 million. The $1.07 billion covers all eleven; the $707 million covers the seven. ICE reported $7.7 million in nonrecoverable costs to buy the seven and estimates it spent about $12.8 million, as of August 2026, on utilities, security and other services at them. It obligated $313 million to renovate a warehouse in Surprise, Arizona, and $113 million for one in Hagerstown, Maryland. Both projects are largely on hold because of suits by the two states' attorneys general. GAO concludes that ICE 'has wasted funds on unsuccessful detention initiatives' and has no comprehensive strategic plan. DHS agreed to write one, with an estimated completion date of August 31, 2027. The next federal status report on the Surprise environmental review is due in early November, by this desk's count.

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Between January and April of this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bought 11 warehouses to turn into detention centers. By June it was working to sell seven of them.

That reversal is at the center of GAO-26-108663, a Government Accountability Office report dated September 24. It is a spending-oversight document. It does not judge whether the government should detain more people. It examines how ICE is spending its detention money, and its conclusion is blunt: ICE "has wasted funds on unsuccessful detention initiatives and lacks important information about the long-term affordability of its investments."

ICE's fiscal 2025 appropriation for detention facilities was around $3.8 billion. Public Law 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, then gave ICE $45 billion for detention capacity through fiscal year 2029. ICE's average daily detained population rose 71 percent, from 39,314 on January 20, 2025 to 67,180 on July 30, 2026.

Two numbers that are both right

  • About $1.07 billion is what ICE reported paying for all 11 warehouses.
  • $707 million is what it paid for the seven it now intends to sell. GAO warns that "if the government sells those seven warehouses for less than ICE's purchase price of $707 million, that will result in additional waste."

The report does not say what the four warehouses ICE is keeping cost. Subtracting gives roughly $363 million, this desk's arithmetic on a rounded total.

The losses so far are a pair too. The report counts $7.7 million in nonrecoverable costs "such as zoning assessments and title insurance" to buy the seven, plus an estimated $12.8 million, as of August 2026, on utilities, security and other services at them. GAO's Highlights page reports "over $20 million on nonrecoverable costs" on the warehouses ICE intends to sell, which matches the two combined. The judgment:

ICE's changing plans for the warehouses have incurred unnecessary costs, resulting in waste.

The original plan was 24 warehouse facilities by November 2026: sixteen processing centers for up to 1,500 people each and eight large-scale facilities for up to 10,000 each. In June 2026, GAO reports, the Secretary of Homeland Security stated that DHS "was re-evaluating the warehouse detention model because the department had not conducted appropriate due diligence and planning."

Surprise, Arizona

GAO singles out two of the four warehouses ICE is keeping. In March 2026 ICE awarded renovation and operating contracts for one in Hagerstown, Maryland and one in Surprise, Arizona, "obligating $113 million and $313 million for the renovations, respectively." As of September 2026, GAO says, both plans are "largely on hold".

The court record fills in the Surprise site, which the court's order places at 13290 West Sweetwater Avenue. The deed attached to Arizona's complaint shows the United States bought it on January 23, 2026 for $70,035,000.00. The renovation order is about four and a half times that. Federal spending data list it as a delivery order signed March 6, 2026, with $313,357,612.46 obligated, a potential value of $704,091,073, and, on this desk's September 27 read, $3,863,852.98 in recorded outlays.

Arizona's Attorney General sued on April 24, 2026, in federal court in Phoenix: Arizona v. Mullin, No. 2:26-cv-02857. The complaint alleges that DHS and ICE committed to the site without the environmental review federal law requires, among other claims. Those are allegations, and no court has ruled on them.

On July 8 the court entered an order both sides had agreed to. ICE may not detain anyone at the Surprise facility or start converting it at least until it has a final environmental assessment and decision document, or a full environmental impact statement if it decides one is needed. Planning, security and routine maintenance may continue. The case is stayed: an agreed pause, not a ruling on the merits.

The government's first status report, filed September 4, says ICE has hired a contractor for the review and held an introductory meeting. "The environmental review remains ongoing."

In Maryland, according to GAO, the state's Attorney General sued in February 2026, and in April a federal court issued a preliminary injunction halting construction and renovation at the Hagerstown-area warehouse.

The finding underneath

Since January 2025 ICE has started six new detention initiatives and, by July 2026, scaled back four. GAO's broader conclusion is that it pursued all six without a comprehensive strategic plan. Its evidence:

  • The goal kept moving. ICE had bed space for 48,000 people in January 2025. In July 2025 DHS said the new funding would add about 80,000 beds. Warehouse documents from February 2026 set a target of 92,600. In June 2026 officials told GAO the administration's goal was 100,000, but "that goal is not reflected in ICE's documents."
  • The schedule did not match the field. ICE's main planning document is a spreadsheet called the "Ramp-Up Detention Bed Schedule". On GAO's site visits in September 2025 and February 2026, field leaders had not heard of facilities it listed as opening within two months, and did not believe they would open.
  • Cost planning stops at year three. As of July 2026 ICE reported buying over $2.5 billion in warehouses and detention facilities, including two operating facilities bought that month for about $1.5 billion. Yet "ICE has not projected the costs of these facilities beyond the first 3 years of operation", the point after which the new funds, available only through fiscal year 2029, can no longer be obligated.

The other initiatives, briefly

GAO counts waste already incurred at the first two and potential waste, from high operating costs, at the last two.

  • Guantanamo Bay: DOD spent $2.85 million on tents that were never used, according to the Defense and State inspectors general. From October 2024 through mid-2026 DOD obligated about $68 million and ICE about $43 million. The average daily population there in fiscal 2026 was 16.
  • Camp East Montana, Fort Bliss: an earlier GAO report, GAO-26-108886, found ICE paid about $7.1 million for meals it did not need between October 1, 2025 and March 12, 2026. As of August 2026 the contract still lacked the recommended cost-saving measures.
  • Florida's soft-sided facility: FEMA awarded Florida $608.4 million. Its daily rate of $249 per detained person is about 171 percent above ICE's $92 median. It closed in June 2026.
  • Bureau of Prisons facilities: a median rate of $182, about double ICE's.

What ICE and DHS said

GAO made one recommendation: that the Director of ICE "develop a comprehensive strategic plan to guide its detention expansion efforts that includes goals, activities, and resource needs."

DHS agreed in a September 15 letter saying ICE's Custody Management Division will write a strategic plan or a similar document covering goals, activities, resources, milestones and roles, with an estimated completion date of August 31, 2027. The letter also says ICE plans to keep meeting demand for bed space partly by focusing on non-traditional facilities built for its needs. GAO's response to the timeline: "more timely completion may be warranted."

Dates to watch

  • Early November 2026: the next government status report in Arizona v. Mullin, by this desk's count. The July 8 order requires one every sixty days; the first came September 4.
  • Later in 2026: a further report, which GAO says it plans to issue, on ICE's use of facilities with high operating costs.
  • The seven sales: the General Services Administration's disposal process may end in a competitive public sale. The prices will show how much of the $707 million comes back.
  • August 31, 2027: ICE's estimated completion date for the strategic plan.

What the record does not say

  • It is not a fraud finding. GAO's definition: "Waste involves incurring unnecessary costs due to inefficient or ineffective practices, systems, or controls." The report names no official or contractor as responsible for misconduct.
  • It gives no sale price or date for the seven warehouses.
  • It does not say how many people, if any, will ever be held in Surprise or Hagerstown.
  • The outlays in federal spending data do not show what the money paid for; the Arizona order allows planning, security and maintenance work.
  • DHS's separate technical comments to GAO, on accuracy and context, are not reprinted in the report.

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