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Michigan and the City of Rumulus filed suit on Tuesday seeking to block the conversion of a suburban Detroit warehouse into an immigration detention center, opening a third front in a widening legal challenge to the Trump administration’s detention expansion program according to a report issued by Michael Wriston, of Project Salt Box. this morning.
The complaint, brought by Attorney General Dana Nessel in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, centers on a 249,000 square foot facility at 7525 Cogswell Street in Romulus, which federal officials purchased in February for $34,7 million. The suit contends that the Department of Homeland Security failed to conduct required environmental reviews and did not notify state or local officials until after the transaction was complete.
The filing follows two earlier lawsuits challenging similar projects. In Maryland, a federal judge has frozen construction on a planned detention facility there. In New Jersey, state officials and the Township of Roxbury moved last week to block a proposed 1,500 bed center. Together, the three cases form the first coordinated legal challenge to the administration’s warehouse-based detention strategy.
At issue across all three suits is the administration’s “Detention Reengineering Initiative,” a program backed by roughly $45 billion in congressional appropriations and aimed at rapidly epxanding detention capacity nationwide. State and local officials argue the effort has relied on accelerated property acquisitions and truncated review processes that bypass evironmental law and local consultation requirements.
The Romulus site presents complications that distinguish it from the Maryland and New Jersey cases. According to the complaint, the warehouse sits within a federally recognized floodplain and borders a 118-acre protected wetland conservation easement. It is also located less than a mile from two public schools. The filing describes the site as “woefully insufficent” and fundamentally unsuitable for detention use.
Infrastructure concerns mirror those raised in New Jersey. The facility depends on a six-inch sewer line that city officials say cannot support hundreds of detainees and staff. The complaint further alleges that federal officials failed to evaluate existing correctional facilities in Michigan and neighboring states before purchasing the property.
As in the Maryland and New Jersey cases, the lawsuit also centers on what officials describe as a lack of coordination. Romulus officials says they were not informed of the purchase until after it was finalized, forming the basis of claims under the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act.
The economic stakes add another dimension. City officials say a major automobile manufacturer had been in discussions to redevelop the warehouse, plans that were displaced by the federal acquisiton. The complaint argues the project would strain local infrastructure and divert emergency resources.
In a public notice issued in late February, the Department of Homeland Security said it intended to use the site for temporary housing and planned to install 3,800 feet of perimeter secrity fencing. MIchigan officials argue that a conversion of that scale requires a full review under the National Environmental Policy Act, including an environmental impact statement whch they say was not conducted.
The above publication is committed to transparency and accountability regarding the Department of Homeland Security’s expanding footprint.