ROMULUS, Mich. – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt its plans to use a recently purchased warehouse in Romulus as a detention center with up to 500 beds.
In a formal comment letter tied to an ICE floodplain notice, Nessel said the agency failed to consult state and local officials and left out critical details that would allow regulators and the public to assess legal and environmental impacts. The Department of Homeland Security plans to use the warehouse at 7525 Cogswell as a detention center for ICE.
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“Our system of government and the law demand transparency and partnership with state and local governments,” Nessel said. “But ICE seems determined not just to ignore the need for such cooperation, but to frustrate it. Through its conduct, ICE appears intent to operate a mass detention facility a stone’s throw from a middle school, an elementary school, and a protected wetland. What’s more, ICE purchased the warehouse before any attempt to communicate with the State of Michigan, its agencies, or any local governing body about it.”
Nessel’s office argued the floodplain notice, part of an Early Notice and Public Review of Proposed Activity in a 100- to 500-year floodplain, lacks the level of detail required to judge compliance with multiple federal laws.
The letter cites potential conflicts with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Flood Insurance Act, the Flood Disaster Protection Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
ICE posted the floodplain notice with a request for public comment by Feb. 27, 2026.
Nessel said the warehouse is not currently configured to house, feed, bathe or otherwise adequately care for detainees and that the agency has not begun required permit discussions with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
Other lawmakers and local leaders have also voiced opposition to the plans for the detention center.
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Nessel called on ICE to stop work at the property, publicly disclose specific plans for use and construction, consult with state and local officials, and comply with applicable state and local permitting and environmental requirements before proceeding.