1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose the Department of Homeland Security's plan to spend $38.3 billion converting warehouses into massive immigration detention centers. This proposal would create 24 facilities nationwide, including 8 large-scale centers designed to hold 7,000 to 10,000 people each. The scale and cost of this expansion are staggering and represent a dangerous shift in how our country treats people in immigration proceedings. The Merrimack, New Hampshire facility alone would cost $158 million to retrofit and $146 million to operate over three years. These are enormous sums that could be better spent addressing the root causes of migration or improving conditions in existing facilities. Instead of building what Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey aptly called "new human warehouses," we should be ensuring that current detention centers provide adequate healthcare, legal access, and humane conditions. The proposed detention model would hold individuals for approximately 60 days in facilities originally built for industrial use, not human habitation. This raises serious concerns about whether these converted warehouses can meet basic standards for healthcare, sanitation, and safety. ICE detention numbers have already reached record levels, yet there has been insufficient oversight of conditions in existing facilities. Recent enforcement actions have created widespread fear in communities. Parents are afraid to send children to school, seek healthcare, or report crimes. This climate of fear does not make us safer. Building massive centralized detention facilities will only escalate these problems while draining billions from taxpayers. I urge you to oppose funding for this detention expansion and instead demand accountability for existing facilities. Congress should require comprehensive audits of current detention center conditions, including healthcare provision, before authorizing any new construction. The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" funding should be redirected toward humane alternatives that respect due process and human dignity.