Durant OK — Choctaw Nation Purchases Warehouse to Block ICE Detention Facility
Overview
In one of the most creative and effective resistance actions against the ICE warehouse expansion, the Choctaw Nation purchased a warehouse in Durant, Oklahoma that DHS had targeted for ICE detention conversion — directly subverting the federal government’s planned acquisition.
Blue Owl Connection
The Durant warehouse was owned by Blue Owl Capital through its real estate subsidiary. Blue Owl also sold the Tremont, PA warehouse to DHS for $119 million (double market value). The Durant and Tremont properties demonstrate Blue Owl’s systematic involvement in the ICE warehouse pipeline.
Significance
The Choctaw Nation’s purchase represents a novel form of resistance: using tribal sovereignty and economic power to directly compete with the federal government in the real estate market. Unlike municipal resistance tools (water shutoffs, zoning challenges, lawsuits), a private purchase removes the property entirely from federal reach.