GAO Report Finds ICE Misspent Millions in Rapid Detention Expansion

The Government Accountability Office released a report Thursday saying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in its accelerated effort to increase detention capacity. The agency advanced more than $1 billion to Chicago Title Insurance to acquire 11 warehouses for conversion into detention centers, later abandoning the plan for seven of them and incurring $20 million in unrecoverable costs. ICE subsequently transferred $2.2 billion to purchase four detention facilities from private prison operator CoreCivic.

GAO officials said ICE failed to account for long-term costs and did not forecast financing beyond the 2029 funding horizon, leaving $1.55 billion still held by Chicago Title. The watchdog urged the agency to develop a strategic plan, noting ICE has pledged to do so by Aug. 31, 2027.

"We just saw a real lack of planning overall," said Heather MacLeod, director of Homeland Security and Justice at GAO. "The lack of planning has really led to stops and starts which have ultimately resulted in waste."

The report also highlighted other costly missteps, including a $2.85 million purchase of tents for a Guantanamo Bay facility that were never used, and a $608.4 million FEMA reimbursement to Florida that exceeded typical per-bed rates for two state-operated facilities. ICE has also paid higher per-bed rates to the Bureau of Prisons and incurred overtime costs to meet its needs.

Congress had allocated $75 billion to ICE, including $45 billion earmarked for detention expansion, under the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act." ICE’s spending rose from $11 billion in the prior fiscal year to $19 billion between October and July, according to a CBS News analysis of federal data.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE is pursuing "cost-effective and innovative ways" to meet its detention objectives, while a policy analyst noted that the unprecedented funding structure bypasses traditional appropriations safeguards, reducing oversight.

DHS’s Inspector General has opened a separate audit to assess whether ICE’s acquisitions were cost-effective and is also reviewing related spending on air charter services and the use of the large appropriations bill.