ICE wants more detention centers. These towns don't

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "ICE wants more detention centers. These towns don't"

Podcast: Consider This from NPR
Air Date: March 18, 2026
Host: Mary Louise Kelly
Reporters: Jasmine Garst (NPR) and Kate Dario (New Hampshire Public Radio)

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Overview

In this episode, NPR investigates the growing push from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand immigrant detention capacity in support of President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. As ICE scouts new locations for detention centers across America, including converting warehouses in suburban and rural communities, fierce and often bipartisan local opposition is mounting. Reporters Jasmine Garst and Kate Dario provide on-the-ground accounts from New Jersey and New Hampshire, exploring the real concerns, political crosswinds, and local activism surrounding these proposals.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

ICE Expansion and Local Backlash

• ICE Facility Expansion

  • ICE is aggressively seeking new spaces, including warehouses and vacant properties, to turn into detention centers near urban and rural areas.
  • Trump’s administration shifted policy to detain almost every immigrant arrested without legal status, causing the detained population to rise from 40,000 to 70,000.
  • "With us hiring at a massive rate, more boots on the ground, meaning arresting more criminals — which means we need more beds."
    — Tom Homan, White House border czar (00:48)

• Bipartisan Local Resistance

  • Communities across party lines are united in opposition to hosting new detention facilities.
  • Local concerns often override political ideology, leading to unexpected coalitions against ICE expansion.

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Community Experiences and Concerns

• Roxbury, New Jersey (Reported by Jasmine Garst)

  • Conservative, picturesque town where ICE bought a 500,000-square-foot warehouse for conversion into a detention center.

  • Local residents deeply troubled by industrial nuisances (truck traffic, lights), environmental impacts (water, sewage), and ethical concerns regarding detention conditions.

  • No local support found; tension at town halls.

  • Since October, 24 deaths reported in ICE detention centers; increasing anxiety over facility safety and oversight.

  • Notable Quote:

    • "I walk out in the morning to large semi trucks. From my front porch, we just see the glowing light heights. It's industrial hell. It is. It is what I don't want to see in the future of America."
      — Local resident (initial "W") (04:52)

  • Public Outcry at Town Hall:

    • "Several real and valid suggestions have been made...all have been ignored. Instead, the vocal pro-ICE council members sitting here today are rolling out the red carpet at the ICE detention center. Are you guys even doing anything? Are you just helping them unpack and carry in their boxes, too?"
      — Susanna Oliveri, Roxbury resident (06:39)

• Political Response

  • Town council officially opposes the detention center, but community skepticism about actual efforts remains.
  • The mayor of Roxbury declined an interview.

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A Local Victory: Merrimack, New Hampshire (Reported by Kate Dario)

• Discovery and Mobilization

  • Town discovered it was listed for a detention center on Christmas Eve via a Washington Post report.

  • Immediate, significant pushback across party lines; both Republicans and Democrats objected — but for varied reasons.

  • Residents Respond:

    • "Surprise is a word...I couldn't believe it. It's just against everything that we stand for. Like, it's inhumane and no one deserves that treatment. It just doesn't make sense."
      — Becky Tancred and Megan Burke, Merrimack residents (07:54)

• DHS Communication Issues

  • Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offered minimal information, fueling local frustration.
  • After lobbying and bipartisan opposition, New Hampshire officials, including Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte, announced the plan would not proceed (08:03).

• Lessons and Organizing

  • Local groups attribute their success to engaging unlikely allies, working across political divides, and proactively networking with similar communities nationwide.
  • Grassroots initiative "NoICE NH" now shares strategies with other activist groups.

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Federal Legislative Efforts and Outlook

• Democrats Propose, Congress Says “No”

  • Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills to require community input and give veto power to local and state officials for new ICE sites.
  • These initiatives face "very long odds" in the Republican-controlled House and Senate (10:00).

• Activist Tactics

  • Local organizers focus on delay tactics and raising the cost of federal expansion to “make it very expensive for the federal government to build these.”
    — Jasmine Garst (09:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "A majority of these locations wouldn't pass for any other venue, even possibly for a homeless shelter. Are they sanitary? Do they have the beds? Do they have the facilities for restrooms?"
  — Daniel Rickman, Republican Mayor of Columbia, SC (01:42, 01:54)

• "I should point out that I was unable to find anyone in this town who supported this."
  — Jasmine Garst, on Roxbury, NJ (05:55)

• "Throughout this, everyone complained that DHS was providing almost no information. And for weeks, they refused to even confirm the plan."
  — Kate Dario, on Merrimack, NH (08:03)

• "One organizer told me engaging people who may not normally make noise was crucial to this fight."
  — Kate Dario (08:37)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00–00:35: Introduction—ICE’s real estate search for new detention centers.
• 00:54–01:42: Policy shift causes detained population to soar; bipartisan local opposition emerges.
• 03:44–05:06: Jasmine Garst describes community perspectives in Roxbury, NJ.
• 06:39–06:59: Resident outrage during Roxbury town meeting.
• 07:13–08:24: Kate Dario details Merrimack’s successful grassroots resistance.
• 09:22–09:59: Reporters explain why federal action is unlikely and highlight local strategies.
• 10:00–10:26: New Hampshire lawmakers introduce legislation; outlook remains dim due to federal dynamics.

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Tone and Language

The episode maintains a neutral, informative NPR tone, amplifying local voices and real concerns. The language is both direct and empathetic, reflecting the frustration and unity among affected towns, and the skepticism toward both ICE and federal authorities.

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Conclusion

This episode vividly illustrates the collision between the federal government’s drive for immigration enforcement infrastructure and strong local resistance—often crossing ideological boundaries. The success stories from Merrimack and ongoing struggles in places like Roxbury illuminate both the limits and possibilities of grassroots action and local democracy in the face of national policy. While legislative movement remains unlikely at the federal level, communities are fiercely employing local tactics to fight for autonomy over their own backyards.

Transcript

[Mary Louise Kelly]

In red states and blue states, in suburbs and cities and rural communities. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security are scouting real estate like outside Orlando, where a local reporter for WFTV was tipped off to a tour.

[Jasmine Garst]

Now you can see it's just a massive vacant warehouse. Around 11:30, we saw several federal officials as well as contractors arrive here.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

And in Kansas City, where KSHB 41 was on the scene, we, we had

[Jasmine Garst]

received this tip that ICE agents were going to be out here touring a facility. We didn't know where, but then we saw a bunch of cars out here in the parking lot.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to significantly expand its detention capacity to help support President Trump's mass deportation agenda. Here is how White House border czar Tom Homan put it last year.

[Daniel Rickman]

With us hiring at a massive rate, more boots on the ground, meaning arresting more criminals, which means we need more beds.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

It's not just criminals, though. For decades, administrations of both parties allowed many immigrants out on bond, while their cases moved through the immigration court system. If they had long standing ties to the community and no criminal record, they were candidates for release. The Trump administration implemented a new policy last summer that mandates detention for virtually any immigrant arrested by ICE without legal status. That has meant the number of immigrants in ICE custody has has soared from roughly 40,000 at the start of Trump's term to roughly 70,000 now. And the push to build, expand and retrofit more facilities to detain these immigrants has ignited fierce and often bipartisan opposition.

[Daniel Rickman]

A majority of these locations wouldn't pass for any other venue, even possibly for a homeless shelter.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

That is the Republican mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, Daniel Rickman.

[Daniel Rickman]

Are they sanitary? Do they have the beds? Do they have the facilities for restrooms? Do they have places that they can provide the meals that are to standards that we would require anybody, including jails, to keep up with?

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Consider this. To achieve his goal of mass deportations, Trump needs to build an infrastructure for mass detention. Communities across the country are saying they don't want to be part of it.

[Daniel Rickman]

Foreign.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Mary Louise Kelly

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[Mary Louise Kelly]

It's Consider this from npr. President Trump's approval rating on immigration has steadily declined as voters have watched his mass deportation agenda and the backlash to it play out in America's streets. A recent Pew poll found that large scale detention of immigrants is especially unpopular. So what happens when an ICE detention center is planned to pop up in your backyard? NPR's Jasmine Garst has been looking into that, along with Kate Dorio with New Hampshire Public Radio. Welcome to you both.

[Jasmine Garst]

Hi.

[Kate Dario]

Hi. Thanks for having me.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Jasmine, first to you. You have been spending time in a few towns where these warehouses are being turned into detention centers. Take us there. Tell us what it looks.

[Jasmine Garst]

Yeah. So one town I spent time in is Roxbury, New Jersey. Roxbury is a conservative town on the edge of Lake Musconnect Cong. And it's, it's very picturesque and overlooking the town on a sort of cliff over the lake, there's this massive warehouse which ISIS purchased to turn into a detention center with nearly 500,000 square feet. So I drove up there for myself and I ended up talking to neighbors. I spoke to one young MAN W He's 22. The new detention center is like right across the street from his house. And he asked that we use only his first initial because he doesn't want retaliation from his new next door neighbor. He describes himself as a nature lover and he says this construction is so invasive he's thinking of moving away.

[Daniel Rickman]

I walk out in the morning to large semi trucks. From my front porch, we just see the glowing light heights. It's industrial hell. It is. It is what I don't want to see in the future of America.

[Jasmine Garst]

And Mary Louise, this is something that we're seeing play out more and more in towns across the country because what's happening is last year Congress gave ICE facilities $45 billion over four years to expand attention. ICE is now projected this year to have 16 new facilities to hold around 1500 people each and six other new large facilities to hold up to 10,000 people. And a lot of these are this warehouses that are slated to be reconverted.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

And tell me a little bit more about some of the concerns that people are raising along with big trucks and glowing lights, as we just heard. And then on the flip side, I mean, I have to assume a new detention facility will bring new jobs to a town. Did you find anybody who likes all this?

[Jasmine Garst]

Yeah, there's all kinds of concerns. You know, there's the ethics of these centers and the conditions inside. You know, since October, we've had 24 deaths in ICE detention. And in the case of this town of Roxbury, there's just a huge concern over water resources and increased sewage. I should point out that I was unable to find anyone in this town who supported this. They have a weekly Roxbury town hall meeting and the mood has gotten really tense. Even though the town council says it's against this project, the people I spoke to said they feel their leaders aren't really doing enough. Here's one townsperson, Susanna Oliveri. She's a local, and here she is confronting the council.

[Local Residents]

Several real and valid suggestions have been made by people in this room, by concerned citizens, and all have been ignored. Instead, the vocal pro ICE council members sitting here today are rolling out the red carpet at the ICE Detention center. Are you guys. Are you guys even doing anything? Are you just helping them unpack and carry in their boxes, too?

[Jasmine Garst]

The mayor of Roxbury declined an interview.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Kate, I want to bring you in here from New Hampshire because I understand some communities have put a stop to these sites. Tell us what happened in the. In the town of Merrimack.

[Kate Dario]

Yeah. So Merrimack, which isn't far from the Massachusetts border, found itself thrust into this conversation on Christmas Eve when the Washington Post reported it was on a list of towns where new detention facilities would be built around the country. From that moment, across party line lines, there was significant pushback against this plan. Merrimack, like New Hampshire overall, is a pretty purple place. But this was a rare issue that united people with totally different political ideologies, often citing different reasons for their opposition. Here are Merrimack residents Becky Tancred and Megan Burke, who showed up to oppose the plan at a protest in January. I asked them how they felt when they heard the plan to construct a detention center in their town.

[Local Residents]

Surprise is a word.

[Jasmine Garst]

I couldn't believe it. It's just against everything that we stand for. Like, it's inhumane and no one deserves that treatment. It just doesn't make sense.

[Kate Dario]

Throughout this, everyone complained that DHS was providing almost no information. And for weeks, they refused to even confirm the plan. But then, in late February, after two months of frustration and confusion, Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte met with former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in D.C. and then announced the plan was not going forward.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Not going forward. So I'll win for local control. What lessons, Kate, have activists in Merrimack taken from all this? And are they sharing those lessons? Like, are groups that oppose these new detention sites talking to each other.

[Kate Dario]

Yeah. So one organizer told me engaging people who may not normally make noise was crucial to this fight. And people also worked across party lines and different communities across the country that were on this list started working together once this initial report came out. And now a grassroots group called Noice NH is trying to use its success as a model, sharing its strategies and experiences with other groups in other states who are still fighting.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

This is so interesting because it sounds like you both through your reporting are finding local bipartisan opposition. But I'm curious, does that translate into any real cross party bipartisan federal effort to rein in ICE detention? Jasmine? No.

[Jasmine Garst]

First of all, I should say both Kate and I have reached out to ice and a spokesperson told us that these aren't going to be warehouses, that they're going to be, quote, well structured detention facilities and that in Roxbury alone it's expected to bring 1300 jobs. Now to your question, on a federal level, several bills have been proposed by Democrats, but you know, they've gone nowhere in the Republican controlled Congress. And so local activists I've spoken to say that their strategy right now is delay, delay, delay and make it very expensive for the federal government to build these.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Kate, how about you?

[Kate Dario]

Yeah. Following the Merrimack fight, New Hampshire's entire four member congressional delegation, all of them Democrats, introduced legislation requiring ICE to get feedback from communities and approval from state and local officials before building any new immigrant detention facility. It would certainly give local officials a lot more leverage to approve or reject new proposals. But as Jasmine notes, these ideas face very long odds. In the Republican controlled House and Senate

[Mary Louise Kelly]

is reporter Kate Dario with New Hampshire Public Radio and jasmine garst with NPR's immigration team. Thanks to you both.

[Kate Dario]

Thanks.

[Jasmine Garst]

Thanks for having me.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

This episode was produced by Connor Donovan with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Hannah Glovna. It was edited by Eric Westervelt and Sarah Handel. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenig. It's consider this from npr. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.

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