Podcast Summary: Next Comes What — "What do you call warehouses full of humans?"

Host: Andrea Pitzer
Date: February 12, 2026

Episode Overview

In this sobering episode, author and historian Andrea Pitzer draws on her expertise in global authoritarianism and concentration camp systems to examine the rise of mass detention infrastructure in the United States under a Trump administration. Through news reports, analysis, and interviews with policy experts, politicians, advocates, and local residents, Pitzer explores the rapid expansion of warehouse-style detention centers and the implications for democracy, civil rights, and public resistance. She threads historical warnings with concrete steps for opposition, urging listeners to recognize and act against what she deems a grave threat unfolding in real-time.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Emergence of Human Warehousing in America

• Massive Warehouses Repurposed as Detention Centers:
  Andrea and guests describe the acquisition and conversion of vast commercial warehouse spaces by the Trump administration for proposed immigrant detention, likening these facilities to historic concentration camps (00:00–00:28). One such building is 418,000 sq. ft., equal to seven football fields, acquired for $70 million.

  "ICE has spent over half a billion dollars acquiring formerly commercial sites."
  — Andrea Pitzer (00:28)

• 'Black Box’ Detention System:
  Activists warn of a system that makes people—immigrants and citizens—disappear, echoing tactics from other authoritarian regimes (00:41).

  "They are building up and have built a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. Citizens alike."
  — Activist / Community Organizer (00:41)

2. Trump’s Deportation Agenda & Rhetoric

• Expansive and Radical Deportation Goals:
  Trump has declared plans to deport up to 20 million residents, supported by staunch allies like Stephen Miller. Ethnic cleansing undertones and violent language abound in some supporters' remarks (00:50–01:12).

  "There is no real halt to the ethnic cleansing project."
  — Andrea Pitzer (01:22)

  "I am your retribution. I am your retribution."
  — Pro-Trump Supporter (00:56)

• Strategic Expansion and Suppression of Dissent:
  ICE and Border Patrol, under the leadership of Trump officials, are becoming more systematic and aggressive, targeting not just immigrants but protesters and dissenters, maintaining databases for potential charges (04:32–04:50).

  "[The agency tracks] names, photos, actions that provoked suspicion, locations and license plates ... intended to spot patterns that could lead to charges."
  — Stephen Miller (04:50)

3. Historical Parallels & Global Context

• Lessons from Global Concentration Camps:
  Pitzer references her own scholarship on camp systems and draws parallels to tactics—commandeering local infrastructure for mass detention—that were hallmarks of Nazi Germany and more recent Chinese policy in Xinjiang (02:10–03:36; 11:26).

  "Dachau was converted from a shuttered factory into a concentration camp in 1933. ... Stadiums, warehouses, racetracks and the like commandeered to hold masses of people."
  — Andrea Pitzer (03:03–03:36)

• International Abandonment of Human Rights Norms:
  The U.S., Pitzer warns, is now openly embracing a model long associated with autocrats, shifting from secretive atomized detention to massive, centralized camps (10:26–11:05).

  "Now the US Government isn't even pretending to espouse human rights and democracy."
  — Andrea Pitzer (10:56)

4. Infrastructure and Policy Choices

• Logistical Scale and Privatization:
  The Trump administration seeks to move beyond networks of local contractors to a federal system of warehouse camps, managed by subcontractors but owned by the government, a move compared to Amazon logistics (10:03–13:33).

  "The ultimate goal is to create Amazon prime, but for people. And that gives you some sense of what they're looking at in the logistics."
  — Immigration Policy Expert / Analyst (13:33)

• Accelerated Hiring by Lowering Standards:
  A surge in ICE and Border Patrol hiring has cut standards and training, with echoes of previous failed expansions under Bush that led to corruption and cartel infiltration (06:01–06:46).

5. Human Impact and Abuses

• horrific Conditions in Detention Camps:
  Firsthand and investigative reports reveal abusive, squalid, and deadly conditions, especially at new tent camps like Camp East Montana: constant noise, lights on 24/7, poor medical care, and abuse by guards (12:34).

  "Three people have already died at the facility, one due to reported inadequate medical care."
  — Immigration Policy Expert / Analyst (13:07)

• Detention of Documented & Undocumented:
  Even legally documented residents or those with revoked documentation are now subject to indefinite detention (13:07).

• Harm to Children:
  Congressional testimony includes heartbreaking letters and drawings from detained children (19:05–20:14).

  “Since I got to this center, all I feel is sadness and mostly depression.”
  — Arianna, 14 years old, detained for 45 days (19:15)

6. Local & National Political Resistance

• Grassroots Opposition and Cross-Party Pushback:
  Opposition to new detention centers emerges from both unexpected allies (Republican and Democratic politicians) and local residents—driven largely by the negative impact on communities and infrastructures (15:45–17:52).

  "Here, finally, is a worthy use of the NIMBY not in my backyard impulse. ... We should embrace it in this case."
  — Andrea Pitzer (16:37)

• Legislative Actions and State Resistance:
  State laws such as New Mexico's Immigrant Safety Act aim to curtail cooperation with federal detention, while other measures remove the possibility for the use of local infrastructure (17:52–18:00).

  “Due process is important. Rule of law is important. It’s what America is founded on. We can’t look the other way.”
  — Immigration Policy Expert / Analyst (17:52)

7. Practical Tactics for Opposition

• Municipal Barriers and Permit Fights:
  Advocates urge communities to refuse cooperation at every regulatory stage—blocking permits, contracts, and local support (22:30–23:17).
• Leveraging Local & Party Influence:
  Even conservative areas can exert pressure, especially where Republican resistance may resonate (23:21–24:01).
• Targeting Corporate Contractors:
  Policies can be enacted to deny contracts, licenses, or public employment to those working with these facilities (24:28).
• Documentation & Protest:
  Maintaining awareness and public pressure is crucial, as is forming networks across affected communities (25:03–25:30).
• Naming the Reality:
  Pitzer advocates using the term “concentration camp” to describe these facilities, reclaiming language to force recognition and urgency (25:30–26:05).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the System's Scope:

  "What we're witnessing is the express repetition of a project on the scale that only the very largest concentration camp systems in history ... have attempted."
  — Andrea Pitzer (13:46)

• On the Dangers of Silence:

  “I wanted those people who lived in those houses to have done something, to have fought back. But of course, most didn’t.”
  — Andrea Pitzer, recalling Neuengamme, Germany (20:59)

• On Resistance:

  "This is also an area where we actually have agency to fight back."
  — Activist / Community Organizer (22:30)

• On Political Divisions and Morality:

  "My brother’s a Republican. But a Republican is different than ... what the leadership is. It's not Republican. It's evil. It's power. It's narcissism."
  — Local Resident / Liberal Social Worker (26:37)

• On the Need to Act:

  “If we are seeing a push to build a similar camp system with a similar reach, we aren't yet faced with those same risks. But we need to act.”
  — Andrea Pitzer (21:11)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction to Warehouses as Detention — 00:00–00:41
• Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda — 00:50–01:39
• Comparisons to Historic Camps — 02:10–03:36
• ICE Databases & Protester Surveillance — 04:32–05:00
• Policy Expansion and Personnel Issues — 06:01–06:46
• Congressional Condemnations — 07:03–08:31
• Expansion of Warehouse Camps — 08:45–11:05
• Tent City Horrors (Camp East Montana) — 12:34–13:33
• Opposition from Local & State Leaders — 15:45–18:00
• Children’s Voices from Detention — 19:05–20:14
• Lessons from European Camp History — 20:14–21:11
• Practical Steps for Community Resistance — 22:30–26:05

Conclusion

Andrea Pitzer closes with a call to recognize the seriousness of mass detention and to mobilize local, state, and national opposition while there is still time. The episode not only documents the perilous expansion of detainment infrastructure in the U.S. but also serves as a guidebook for action, resistance, and reclaiming collective agency before the machinery of mass repression is fully entrenched.

For more information or to support further reporting, visit AndreaPitzer.com.