Hutchins, TX Majestic Realty Warehouse — proposed 9,500-bed ICE mega-detention site, owner rejected
Overview
ICE/DHS explored converting a roughly 1,000,000-square-foot warehouse in Hutchins, Texas (Dallas County), near the I-45/I-20 interchange, into a detention facility reported to hold as many as 9,500–10,000 people — far exceeding the city’s own population of about 6,000. The site was first surfaced by a December 2025 Washington Post report on ICE’s national warehouse-conversion plan and drew immediate, intense local opposition. On February 16, 2026, the warehouse owner, Majestic Realty, publicly declined to sell or lease the property for detention use, effectively blocking the deal at this site.
Key Details
- Capacity: Reported at approximately 9,500 beds (some accounts cite up to 10,000); described as potentially the largest ICE detention site in the country.
- Size: ~1,000,000 square feet.
- Owner: Majestic Realty, which said it would instead seek “a buyer or lease tenant that will help drive economic growth.”
- Opposition: Hutchins Mayor Mario Vasquez (“If you think anybody up here is on board with it, you’re in the wrong building”); the City Council; residents at a February 5, 2026 council meeting; Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia; Pastor Eric Folkerth (“It’s a warehouse meant for packages, and we should not be storing humans in a warehouse meant for packages”).
- Status: Contested / owner-rejected. As of mid-February 2026, no federal paperwork had been filed and DHS had not formally confirmed the project; the property owner’s refusal removed the near-term path at this site, though DHS has not ruled out other Dallas-area locations.
National Context
This site is part of ICE’s Detention Reengineering Initiative — the $38.3B/92,600-bed national buildout (see national-detention-buildout-strategy-2026), tracked by project-salt-box.
Sources
- ICE wanted to house immigrants in a Hutchins warehouse. Realty company turned them down — TPR (Feb 16, 2026)
- ‘Treating them like livestock’: Hutchins residents, mayor oppose proposed ICE mega-facility — FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
- Hutchins city leaders meet to discuss ICE detention center as residents continue opposition — KERA News (Feb 5, 2026)
- Owner of North Texas warehouse says it won’t sell or lease to feds for ICE facility — WFAA
- ‘You’re in the wrong building’: North Texas city leaders not on board with possible ICE warehouse — WFAA