Many businesses and nonprofits Were closed Observing the National Shutdown Day January 30, 2026.
Governor Kelly Ayotte, (R), of New Hampshire on Thursday released internal federal documents outlining a sweeping $38.3 billion plan by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to overhaul and expand the nation’s detention network according to a report issued this afternoon by the non-profit Project Salt Box from which excerpts are published herein.
The plan indicates that ICE’s detention infrastructure is expanding: from renting bed space in local jails to owning and operating more faciities, including large “mega-centers” and smaller “processing sites.” Apparently, the government aims to implement this new model by the end of fiscal year 2026, adding as many as 92,600 beds to the federal detention system.
The detailed plan says that ICE would pucrhase 34 facilities outright, including eight large-scle centers and 16 regional processing hubs, using federal funds allocated through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The plan emphasizes federal ownership to circumvent state-level restrictions on contracting with ICE and it includes engineering reviews to ensure the facilities can operate independently of local ianfrastructure such as water, power and wastewater systems.
According to Project Salt Box’s warehouse tracker which compiles nationwide property acquisitions and cancellations connected to the Plan, ICE has identified seven of its eight planned large-scale centers; four have been purchased and three were cancelled, leaving four additional centers needed to meet the original goal.
For the 16 regional processing sites the plan calls for, Project Salt Box has documented 11 – five purchased and four canceled, with at least six pending sites required to proceed and five more needed beyond those to meet the target.
The “flashpoint” for the controvery is a proposed processing site at a 324,000-square-foot warehouse at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
Local and state officials say they were not adequately informed about the project. Ayotte has denied that she was ever briefed by federal officials before last week’s Senate hearing and she has ordered an investigation into why staff in her own administration were aware of communications between the Department of Homeland Security and state agencies before she was.
The newly released federal materials describe plans to retrofit warehouses and facilities housing thousands of detainees. But local opposition and cancelletions — notably in states including Missouri, Utah and Oklahoma — have slowed down the rollout. ICE now faces a tight deadline to have the sites operational by November 30, 2026, and must still secure multiple large centers and processing sites to meet its stated goals.
As ICE moves forward with its nationwide detention overhaul, the gaps between projected capacity and facilities confirmed by tracking data, along with ongoing debates inside the agency and pressure from state and local officials, suggest that the initiative will face legal, political and logistical challenges in the months ahead.