Community Opposition Blocks ICE Plan for North Texas Mega‑Detention Center

Community opposition in Hutchins, Texas, forced the collapse of a proposed ICE mega‑detention center this week, after residents organized a sustained pressure campaign that prompted the property owner to reject any deal with the Department of Homeland Security.

The reversal came after weeks of mounting resistance from residents, clergy groups, and local organizers who warned that converting the million‑square‑foot warehouse into a federal detention hub would overwhelm the small city and saddle Hutchins with the fallout of a project it never requested. Their sustained pressure campaign coincided with the property owner’s announcement that it would not sell or lease the building to DHS, effectively ending the proposal.

On Sunday, Breitbart Texas reported that DHS officials are planning a massive re-engineering plan to expand detention capacity for illegal aliens arrested under President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation orders. An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo published online by New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) revealed the agency’s plans to build eight mega-detention centers, each designed to hold up to 10,000 people awaiting deportation.

Although the plan is now being executed under President Trump’s renewed enforcement directives, the underlying blueprint for expanding ICE’s detention footprint originated during the Biden administration. Internal DHS planning documents circulated in 2023 and 2024 outlined a nationwide shift toward large‑scale, warehouse‑style detention hubs capable of holding thousands of detainees at a time. Those early proposals—developed as DHS struggled with record migrant surges and overcrowded facilities—laid the groun

One of the proposed megacenters was reportedly planned for Hutchins, Texas, according to The Dallas Morning News. Hutchins Mayor Mario Vasquez publicly opposed the federal government’s purchase of the giant warehouse that sat empty for many months. “No benefit to it whatsoever,” the mayor said.

Community Opposition Blocks ICE Plan for Hutchins Mega‑Detention Center (City of Hutchins and ICE)

Fox 4 in Dallas reported that the building’s owner, Majestic Realty Co., decided to back out of the sale of the giant warehouse to the federal government. This was the first public confirmation of ICE’s intention to buy the build and locate the proposed 9,200-bed facility in North Texas.

The company issued a statement saying “that it values its relationship with Hutchins’ mayor and the city and intends to work with local officials to identify a different tenant,” the local Fox News affiliate reported.

When rumors of the proposed ICE mega-detention center broke in Hutchins earlier this month, government leaders quickly reacted, generating a maelstrom of opposition to the project.

Fox 4 reported one local resident’s protest:

“It’s just hard to believe that there’s a chance of us getting a detention center here… that’s supposed to house over 10,000 migrants,” said Hutchins resident Antonio Soto. “We don’t even have that many people in the city of Hutchins. We are literally treating them like livestock and animals… and we cannot stand for that.”

Mayor Vasquez said ICE had not provided any paperwork or communication regarding the facility and added that he and the City Council were “formally opposed to the facility.”

WFAA, Dallas ABC 8, reported additional commentary from Mayor Vasquez. “If you think that anybody up here is on board with it, you’re in the wrong building,” Vasquez proclaimed. “Nobody up here on this dais is on board with what they’re trying to put here.”

Dallas County officials also announced opposition to the plan. District 4 Commissioner Elba Garcia said, “Dallas County is a place of opportunity, not a place of incarceration nor a dumping ground for policies that tear families apart.” He did not comment on how the Dallas County jail also tears families of criminals apart. “Our community is built by immigrants, by working families, and by people who came here seeking safety, dignity, and a better life,” Garcia added. “We refuse to allow our neighbors to be treated as disposable or to have their lives reduced to a number in a detention system.”

A second Texas-based facility is planned for the border city of El Paso. That facility is expected to house approximately 8,500 illegal aliens. Smaller facilities in Texas include locations in San Antonio and Los Fresnos. It is not clear where, or if, ICE will pick another facility in Texas to replace the loss of the proposed Hutchins center.

With the Hutchins project now effectively dead, the city becomes the first clear example of how local resistance can upend the Biden‑era detention blueprint now being implemented under President Trump’s renewed enforcement directives. As DHS moves forward with plans for additional megacenters across the country, the showdown in this small North Texas community underscores the political, logistical, and moral battles that will follow wherever the federal government attempts to site the next 10,000‑bed facility.