Documents Confirm ICE Seeks To Buy New Hampshire Warehouse For Detention Facility
New documents have confirmed speculation that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is eyeing a warehouse in Merrimack, New Hampshire, for a detention and processing center.
The American Civil Liberties Union-New Hampshire made the documents public today. They show that the federal government is actively consulting with the state of New Hampshire about a 43-acre warehouse at 50 Robert Milligan Parkway in Merrimack.
The federal government plans to use the facility as a regional processing center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, according to the documents.
The property is owned by a joint venture between Trammel Crow Co. and Diamond Realty Investments that broke ground on the 324K SF facility in 2023.
ICE was in contact with the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources on Jan. 9 about its intent to purchase the warehouse to support its operations.
The plans for the warehouse were first reported by The Washington Post in December 2025. It is the only New England facility listed in internal documents obtained by The Post and would act as a smaller site with the capacity for 500 to 1,500 beds.
The Merrimack site, and 15 other smaller sites, would then feed into larger facilities that could host between 5,000 and 10,000 beds, according to The Post.
The department said in its correspondence with the state it may install tents and a guard shack on the premises as well as other additions to the warehouse including office space, a cafeteria and bathrooms.
Since December, Merrimack residents have been watching the site and seeking information from the government, The Boston Globe reported. The Merrimack Town Council sent a letter on Jan. 23 to the Department of Homeland Security to ask about the site.
The town council received a statement on Feb. 2 from Homeland Security that did not go into specifics about the project.
"Due to the heightened threat environment, and the unprecedented opposition being thrown up by the Left against ICE’s efforts to effectuate mass deportations, ICE is unable to share details about any upcoming expansion in New Hampshire or elsewhere," the statement said.
No sale for the facility this year has yet to appear in New Hampshire public records. The last time the property was sold was in 2022.
ICE has looked to buy facilities in 23 cities and towns to detain up to 80,000 immigrants, The Post reported in December. ICE has plans to overhaul seven logistics centers in Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Virginia, Georgia and Missouri.
In January, the department sought to turn a 1M SF warehouse, once designed for tech giant Amazon, in Hutchins, Texas, into a detention center that would hold up to 9,500 people.
On Monday, the owners of properties in Virginia and Oklahoma City canceled plans to sell sites to ICE following community pushback.
