BYHALIA, Miss. — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., urged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday to abandon plans to convert a warehouse into a massive ICE detention center. In a letter released by his office, Wicker said a facility with more than 8,500 beds would strain local medical and emergency services and sideline other economic development, Feb. 4, 2026.
Wicker said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “in the final stages of acquiring a warehouse facility” and intends to convert it into an ICE detention center, according to the senator’s letter and press release. “While I support the enforcement of immigration law, I write to express my opposition to this acquisition and the proposed detention center,” he wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As of January, ICE held more than 70,000 people nationwide in more than 200 facilities, Reuters reported, as the Trump administration pushes to expand detention space.
Why the ICE detention center plan alarms Wicker
In his letter to Noem, Wicker argued the Byhalia site was built to attract employers and “does not generate comparable economic returns or community benefits” as an ICE detention center. He said “existing medical and human services infrastructure” in the town is “insufficient to support such a large detainee population,” warning the conversion would demand upgrades in water, sewer, staffing and emergency response.
Wicker added that “many of my constituents have voiced concerns regarding the public safety, medical capacity, and economic impacts this center would impose on their communities.” “Proceeding with this acquisition without adequately addressing these issues disregards community input,” he wrote.
Local advocates warn an ICE detention center would change daily life
Wicker’s letter followed local protests and a Jan. 16 press conference urging the building’s owner not to cooperate with federal plans. “Because if you house ICE in your community, they of course will be in your community arresting people, tearing families apart,” said Chelsea Howard, vice chair of the Desoto Mutual Aid Collective, according to Action News 5.
The Byhalia dispute also reflects a wider pattern of resistance to large detention projects. In April 2025, The Marshall Project reported on conservative communities pushing back against proposed immigration detention facilities when residents raise concerns about staffing, infrastructure and local control.
Warehouse proposals have surfaced before
In December, The Washington Post reported that internal ICE planning documents described a strategy to retrofit industrial warehouses into large-scale holding sites designed to speed up deportations. Wicker’s opposition places the Byhalia ICE detention center proposal squarely in that national debate.
Mississippi has already been part of that detention footprint. A February 2025 Mississippi Today report on expanded ICE bed space at a private prison in Tutwiler highlighted how federal detention demand has increasingly relied on private facilities across the state.
Wicker urged Noem to reconsider the ICE detention center plan and asked to be notified about any similar proposals moving forward. The department has not publicly responded.
