GAO: ICE Wasted Tens of Millions in Its Rush to Expand Detention

A Government Accountability Office report released September 24 found ICE spent nearly $3 million on tents at Guantánamo Bay that were never used and $20 million maintaining warehouses now being sold without ever holding a detainee. Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, closed in June, was paid through a $608 million FEMA grant at $249 per detainee per day — 171% above ICE’s normal $92 rate — and a second Florida site in Sanderson is still paid the same rate. ICE also spent $1.5 billion in July to buy two contractor-owned facilities without assessing their long-term affordability. DHS told GAO it will have an expansion plan by August 31, 2027.