ICE is wasting tens of millions of dollars on 'uninformed' detention projects, report finds

Nbcwashington · 🇺🇸 public United States · Sep 24, 2026 · 839 words · By Ryan J Foley; The Associated Press

Administrative Mismanagement Government Waste Immigration Policy Failure

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What to know about Administrative Mismanagement

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies have wasted tens of millions of dollars pursuing ill-conceived plans to rapidly increase detention capacity, and the total will likely rise due to ongoing mismanagement, congressional investigators warned…

Claims checked 18

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Government Accountability Office documented costly problems in several initiatives ICE has pursued since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and ordered the mass arrest and deportation of people who are in the country illegally.

Common ground

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Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Administrative Mismanagement story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that a $426 million outlay to renovate facilities in Arizona and Maryland that is on hold due to legal challenges?
How does this story connect Administrative Mismanagement with Government Waste over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/ice-wasting-millions-d…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Name Calling / Labeling 80% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8

check_circle Corroborated 7

verified Verified By Reference 1

verified Verified 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “a $426 million outlay to renovate facilities in Arizona and Maryland that is on hold due to legal challenges.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “ICE never reached a contract with the state of Florida to operate the facility nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” which housed detainees for a year until it was closed in June”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “ICE's normal rate of $92”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “The U.S. Government Accountability Office documented costly problems in several initiatives ICE has pursued since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources (The Independent, The Guardian, and others) refer to a GAO report/watchdog finding documenting waste and costly problems with ICE initiatives following the start of the second Trump administration in January 2025.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There is significant academic and political debate about the extent to which the United States has embodied authoritarianism during the Trump presidencies. Many scholars classify the US as a hybrid "p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism_during_the_Tr…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — During the second presidency of Donald Trump, federal immigration enforcement policies and operations have resulted in the documented arrest, death, detention, and removal of American citizens. As of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportations_of_U.S._citizens_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The first 100 days of the first Trump presidency began on January 20, 2017, the day Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. The first 100 days of a presidency took on …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_100_days_of_the_first_Tr…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “DHS is also paying the state the higher rate for a second facility that's still open in Sanderson, Florida.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 6: “The detainee population has increased from 39,000 in January 2025 to 67,000 as of July 30.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence exists for the general context of 2025 ICE activities, the specific population numbers (39,000 to 67,000) are not present in the provided evidence snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On the evening of July 4, 2025, a civil disturbance and shooting occurred at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, United States, during one of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Prairieland_ICE_detention…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a chronological list of reported deaths in United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. It is based mainly on US federal government records which are in the public domain…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deaths_in_ICE_detentio…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Many protests against Donald Trump took place during his first presidential campaign in 2016 (beginning in 2015), to his first presidency (from 2017 through 2021), to his third presidential campaign i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_protests_against_D…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “ICE has spent $20 million on costs and services related to those seven warehouses that it will not recover”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “DHS agreed to reimburse the state through a special $608 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant that authorizes a charge of $249 per detainee per day”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “the Department of Defense assembled enough tents to hold 5,000 people there at a cost of $2.85 million”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the Department of Defense spent $2.85 million to assemble tents for 5,000 people at Guantanamo Bay.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Department of Defense (DOD) provides the military forces needed to deter war, and to protect the security of the United States.Find an office near you. Find military installations. Main address. 1…
https://www.usa.gov/agencies/u-s-department-of-defense

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web search NEUTRAL — The Pentagon spent $2.85 million assembling tents at Guantanamo Bay that were never used to house detained noncitizens, a government watchdog reported.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2026/10…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Defense Department's description of forced feeding is disturbing.The Department of Defense this month publicly released its newest rationalization for the abusive force-feeding program at Guantána…
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-forced-feeding-at-guanta…

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Claim 10: “the agency housed an average of 16 detainees daily there this year”

CORROBORATED

Independent sources report that the base averaged just 16 people a day despite the high expenditure.

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web search NEUTRAL — ICE spent more than $100 million detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay this year — even though the base averaged just 16 people a day. A federal audit says that’s only part of the waste.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/sep/25/ice-spent-1…

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web search NEUTRAL — After the White House directed officials to use the military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for immigration detention in January 2025, the Department of Defense assembled enough tents to hold 5,000 peo…
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ice-wasting-tens-millions-dollars-…

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web search NEUTRAL — The government paid an estimated $16,540 per day per detainee at Guantánamo to hold those accused of terrorism, according to a 2025 Washington Post analysis of DOD data. The average cost to detain imm…
https://www.wired.com/story/public-health-workers-are-quitti…

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Claim 11: “$20 million to maintain purchased warehouses that are now being sold without having housed a single detainee”

CORROBORATED

The Independent and other reports specifically mention $20 million spent on unrecoverable costs (maintenance, utilities, security) for warehouses that never housed detainees.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 °C, 32 °F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "Ice Ice Baby" is the debut single by American rapper Vanilla Ice. Released by SBK Records, on his debut album, To the Extreme (1990), it is his best-known song and has appeared in remixed form on Pla…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Ice_Baby

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. Its stated mission is to conduct criminal investiga…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Immigration_and_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 12: “The Department of Homeland Security... told GAO it would develop a plan to guide its detention expansion by Aug. 31, 2027”

VERIFIED

A web search result specifically states that DHS committed to delivering a strategic plan for detention expansion by August 31, 2027, in response to GAO recommendations.

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web search NEUTRAL — DHS Commits to a 2027 Deadline for a Strategic Plan. In response to the GAO’s recommendations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stated that ICE will deliver a strategic plan or a similar …
https://southafricaportal.com/gao-criticizes-ice-detention-e…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Department of Homeland Security has a vital mission to secure the...
https://www.dhs.gov/

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web search NEUTRAL — Plans to expand New York’s largest immigration detention facility have shifted from a permanent structure to a $17 million soft-sided tent facility designed to house women, according to federal docume…
https://www.silive.com/ny-state/2026/10/ice-to-begin-housing…

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Claim 13: “DHS is now planning to sell seven of the facilities.”

CORROBORATED

The Independent reports that ICE must sell seven warehouses to avoid further waste, corroborating the plan to sell a portion of the facilities.

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Claim 14: “the Bureau of Prisons is housing detainees at eight facilities... and pay a rate of $182 per detainee per day”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 15: “ICE purchased 11 large warehouses across the country for $1.07 billion”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the specific purchase of 11 warehouses for $1.07 billion, although related warehouse waste is mentioned.

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Claim 16: “Congress gave ICE an unprecedented $45 billion to expand detention capacity last year as part of the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill”

CORROBORATED

Wikipedia confirms the existence of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' (P.L. 119-21) as a core part of Trump's second-term agenda, and multiple web sources confirm the $45 billion allocation for detention capacity expansion.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Two shutdowns of the U.S. federal government occurred in 2026, both stemming from congressional disputes over federal immigration enforcement reforms following the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_federal_gov…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — David Kunnghee Min (Korean: 민건기; born March 5, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative from California's 47th congressional district since 2025. A member o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Min

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), or the Big Beautiful Bill (P.L. 119-21), is a U.S. federal statute passed by the 119th United States Congress containing tax and spending policies that form the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Big_Beautiful_Bill_Act

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 17: “The agency spent $1.5 billion to buy two of them in July”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 18: “nearly $3 million to erect tents at Guantanamo Bay that were never used”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources confirm the expenditure of approximately $2.85 million to $3 million on tents at Guantanamo Bay that were never used due to failing detention standards.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Spanish: Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo GIT-moh as jargon by the U.S. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by President George W.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is a 2008 American buddy stoner comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The sequel to Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_&_Kumar_Escape_from_Gua…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.