ROMULUS, Mich. – The mayor of Romulus and U.S. senators are continuing to press the Department of Homeland Security to halt plans to convert a warehouse into a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight told residents his office still has not received formal communication from DHS about its plans for the facility, but city staff found documents on a DHS website that indicate the department’s intent to use the property for ICE.
“As of today, the City of Romulus has still not received any formal communication from DHS (Department of Homeland Security) however, our team has discovered documents on a DHS website clearly stating their intention to use 7525 Cogswell as a detention center for I.C.E.,” the mayor wrote in a message to residents on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.
The mayor said that the city will continue to oppose a detention facility and seek support from local, state and federal lawmakers to press the case.
“We remain steadfast in our efforts to discourage a detention facility in Romulus,” McCraight wrote." Simply put, Romulus cannot sustain the impact to our residents, our public safety departments nor the economic impact to our community and the region should DHS open such a facility in an already overburdened and underserved city."
Residents gathered outside city hall to rally against the planned detention center on Monday, and later that evening the Romulus City Council passed a resolution opposing ICE’s purchase of the facility for a detention center.
In a joint letter dated Feb. 25, 2026, the mayor, along with U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin 2026, asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to provide detailed records by March 11.
--> Click here to read the full letter.
They asked for information, including ICE’s intended capacity, staffing, renovation plans, opening date, any National Environmental Policy Act reviews, the community impact study, and the economic analysis that underpinned ICE’s public claims.
In previous media statements, an ICE spokesperson said new detention sites “will undergo community impact studies and rigorous due diligence process to make sure there is no hardship on local utilities or infrastructure prior to purchase.”
The senators and city leaders say no local officials were contacted about those studies before the purchase of the facility, raising questions about whether the due diligence and community impact work was completed and, if so, whether local officials received the findings.
City and lawmakers said that an ICE detention center would place very different demands on Romulus than the site’s current industrial zoning anticipates.
The property sits in the city’s M-1, Light Industrial District, which the zoning ordinance says is intended for light manufacturing and small-scale warehousing and for uses that “generate less truck traffic.”
Officials also note the facility is surrounded by residential neighborhoods.
They say a detention center would require frequent staff and visitor traffic, supply deliveries, and regular detainee transport, demands that could strain local traffic and infrastructure.
Before DHS’s purchase, the city’s Department of Building & Safety had issued a renovation permit for the facility for use by an automotive manufacturer, a fact lawmakers say undercuts ICE’s contention that the detention center would boost local economic activity more than manufacturing.
Mayor McCraight said his administration is focused on protecting residents and keeping Romulus safe, and he pledged to keep the community informed.
“My administration is focused on protecting our residents and ensuring Romulus remains a safe community, and are seeking support from local, state and federal legislators to hear our message of opposition,” the mayor wrote in his message to residents.