ICE Is Setting Up Offices Across the US at Lightning Speed

[Narrator] ICE and DHS have carried out a secret campaign

to expand their physical presence across the US,

federal records obtained by WIRED show.

The documents reveal more than 150 leases

and office expansions,

placing facilities in nearly every state, many of them in

or just outside of the country's largest metropolitan areas.

In many cases, these facilities,

which are to be used by street level agents

and ICE attorneys are located near elementary schools,

medical offices, places of worship,

and other sensitive locations.

In El Paso, Texas, for example,

the agency is moving into a large campus

of buildings right off of Interstate 10,

near multiple local health providers

and other businesses.

In Philadelphia, ICE plans to share office space

with one of the city's central DMV locations.

In a wealthy community near Houston,

ICE appears poised to move into an office building

blocks away from a preschool.

Why this rapid expansion?

Since President Donald Trump took office in 2025,

ICE has more than doubled in size.

DHS claims the agency now has 22,000 officers

and agents across the country, and they need office space.

The General Services Administration,

which manages federal buildings

and functions as the government's internal IT department,

is playing a critical role in this aggressive expansion.

In numerous emails and memorandums, viewed by WIRED,

DHS asked the General Services Administration explicitly

to disregard usual government lease procurement procedures,

and even hide lease listings

due to national security concerns.

Altogether, the leasing plans we uncovered

give a clear picture

of where ICE is going next in the US, everywhere.

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