In a low-key move, Kristi Noem’s department has allocated nearly $90 million toward acquiring a nondescript warehouse in a secluded part of Pennsylvania, intended to accommodate over 1,000 migrants.
Property records examined by the Daily Mail reveal that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has purchased the sprawling 518,000-square-foot facility situated in Hamburg.
ICE, under the umbrella of Noem’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), finalized the acquisition with a cash payment of $87.4 million on January 29. The building is expected to house approximately 1,500 migrants amidst ongoing robust deportation efforts.
Previously known as the Hamburg Logistics Center, this building once served as the venue for the Mountain Springs Arena, famous for its rodeos and demolition derbies.
Located in a rural setting along Interstate-78 in Upper Bern Township, near Hamburg in eastern Pennsylvania, the warehouse blends into its surroundings.
To its north lies a vast 10,000-acre hunting reserve, while an Amazon fulfillment center is conveniently located less than a mile away.
Two dozen individuals were seen touring the Hamburg warehouse by Spotlight PA. on January 15, two weeks ahead of the sale.
One man among the group identified himself as an ICE official, according to the outlet.
ICE, which is overseen by Kristi Noem’s Department for Homeland Security (DHS), bought the warehouse in cash for $87.4 million on January 29 to house around 1,500 migrants as aggressive deportations continue apace, according to deeds seen by the Daily Mail
Kristi Noem’s department has quietly spent almost $90 million purchasing an old warehouse (pictured above) in a Pennsylvania backwater town to house more than 1,000 migrants
Bloomberg reported last week that the Trump administration is seeking to buy as many as 23 warehouses that will be used to detain the rapidly increasing numbers of migrants ICE is seeking to deport.
According to the publication, the facility in Hamburg could be retrofitted to hold 1,500 detainees.
In the month of January alone, ICE spent nearly $380 million on four warehouses, including the one in Hamburg, according to records reviewed by the Daily Mail.
The others purchased by the federal government include one in Tremont, Pennsylvania; another in Hagerstown, Maryland; and a third in Surprise Arizona.
ICE has not confirmed what these properties will be used for, and the agency did not respond to a request for comment.
The facility in Tremont, which cost more than $119 million, used to be a Big Lots distribution center. It closed about a year ago when Big Lots filed for bankruptcy.
The warehouse is less than a half a mile away from Kids-R-Kids Childcare Center, which has led to outrage in the community as most believe that it will be used to house illegal migrants.
According to Bloomberg’s report, the Tremont warehouse could hold a staggering 7,500 detainees.
Joyce Wetzel, who owns the daycare center, told WNEP-TV that parents are worried about the safety of their children.
‘I don’t like it, but there’s nothing you can do. I’m trying to reassure my parents and my staff that we should be okay,’ Wetzel said.
A 10,000-acre hunting area sits directly to the north of the Pennsylvania warehouse bought by ICE, and it is located less than a mile away from the Amazon fulfillment center pictured above
It comes as the DHS said officials have deported almost three million people since Donald Trump became president for a second time on January 1, 2025.
‘In President Trump’s first year back in office, nearly three million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 675,000 deportations,’ Noem said in a statement.
‘In the last year, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has also been cut by more than half compared to the same period in 2024.
‘The U.S. Coast Guard alone seized enough cocaine to kill more than 177 million Americans.
‘Meanwhile, we have saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion here at DHS.
‘Countless lives have been saved, communities have been strengthened, and the American people have been put first again.’
