1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I write in urgent opposition to the reported plans by President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to dramatically expand immigration detention capacity through the acquisition and conversion of large warehouse-style facilities across the country. Recent reporting indicates that the administration is purchasing or leasing massive industrial properties with the intention of converting them into large-scale detention centers. These actions appear to be proceeding with limited transparency, minimal public oversight, and little meaningful congressional debate. If accurate, this represents not just an expansion of infrastructure — but an expansion of mass detention as a governing strategy. The United States is already operating one of the largest immigration detention systems in the world. Numerous government watchdogs, federal court rulings, and independent investigations have documented overcrowding, inadequate medical care, prolonged detention without meaningful due process, and conditions that fall below basic human dignity standards. Expanding this system at scale — particularly through repurposed warehouse facilities — risks compounding these failures exponentially. Mass civil detention of non-citizens is not a neutral administrative tool. It carries profound constitutional, fiscal, and moral implications. Immigration detention is civil in nature, not criminal punishment. Yet conditions often mirror or exceed carceral settings, and detainees frequently lack guaranteed counsel. Expanding detention capacity on a massive scale raises serious Fifth Amendment due process concerns and invites systemic rights violations. History warns us about where unchecked executive detention power can lead. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II — authorized under President Franklin D. Roosevelt — is now widely recognized as a grave injustice driven by fear, secrecy, and executive overreach. We should not ignore those lessons. When the federal government begins acquiring large facilities to detain populations at scale, with limited transparency and weakened oversight, it demands immediate congressional scrutiny. This is not how a constitutional democracy allocates resources. Billions of taxpayer dollars should not be diverted toward expanding a detention apparatus that has repeatedly failed humanitarian, legal, and fiscal standards. Community-based alternatives to detention are significantly more cost-effective and have demonstrated high compliance rates with immigration proceedings. Expanding detention is not only more punitive — it is more expensive and less effective. Congress must act immediately to: • Demand full public accounting of all property acquisitions, contracts, and funding streams related to expanded detention facilities. • Prohibit the use of appropriated funds for large-scale warehouse conversions without explicit congressional authorization. • Cap detention capacity and prioritize proven alternatives to detention. • Require independent inspections and enforceable detention standards before any facility expansion. • Conduct public oversight hearings examining the legal justification, cost projections, and human rights implications of this expansion. Unchecked expansion of mass detention erodes civil liberties, normalizes indefinite confinement, and places extraordinary power in the hands of the executive branch. It is fiscally reckless, legally fraught, and morally corrosive. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to prevent the normalization of mass civil detention infrastructure in the United States. Silence or inaction will be interpreted as consent. I urge you to intervene immediately and halt this expansion before it becomes entrenched policy.