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Romulus MI — State AG and City Sue to Block ICE Warehouse Near Schools

Wayne, MI FIPS 26163
Vote: N/A — federal purchase, no local vote
Current status: No preliminary injunction was ever entered in this case. On June 18, 2026, AG Nessel announced DHS/ICE will not convert the Romulus warehouse and intend to sell it; a June 23 court filing confirmed the sale intent. Case 2:26-cv-10968-JJCG-EAS remains formally open — Nessel stated it will stay open until a written agreement guarantees the property is never used for detention. Retreat via voluntary DHS withdrawal / sale-intent filing, not by adjudicated ruling.

The Fight

ICE purchased a warehouse at 7525 Cogswell Street in Romulus, Michigan (see romulus-mi-warehouse) in February 2026 without notifying the state, city, or public. Michigan AG Dana Nessel and the City of Romulus filed suit March 24, 2026 to block the conversion.

Why This Fight Matters

Romulus demonstrates the federal purchase model’s core vulnerability: it bypasses local democratic processes entirely, which generates more intense backlash than the IGSA model (which at least goes through a county commission vote). The 700-800 person protest at City Hall and the AG lawsuit represent a level of opposition that the IGSA model is specifically designed to avoid.

The lawsuit alleges:

  • Located within a mile of an elementary school and middle school
  • Abuts residential neighborhoods
  • Lies within a floodplain that flooded as recently as 2025
  • Lacks adequate infrastructure (bathrooms, sewer) for 500 detainees + staff

Timeline

  • February 2026: ICE purchases warehouse for $34.7 million without notice
  • February 17, 2026: ICE confirms purchase
  • February 27, 2026: AG Nessel demands ICE halt the plan
  • Late February 2026: 700-800 protesters at City Hall
  • March 12, 2026: Axios reports Governor Whitmer notably silent while AG Nessel leads opposition
  • March 17, 2026: Coalition to Shut the Camps holds weekly Saturday demonstrations, says movement “gaining steam”
  • March 23, 2026: Romulus City Council unanimously votes to join AG Nessel’s lawsuit
  • March 24, 2026: City and State file lawsuit in federal court
  • March 30, 2026: Case heads to federal court (Axios)
  • April 1, 2026: DHS pauses all warehouse purchases under new Secretary Markwayne Mullin, reviewing all Noem-era contracts. Romulus is one of 11 warehouses nationally ($1.074B combined) under review.
  • April 2, 2026: DHS confirms it is specifically reviewing the Romulus purchase
  • April 15, 2026: Maryland’s parallel NEPA case wins a preliminary injunction (Judge Brendan A. Hurson, D. Md.). The Hurson ruling becomes the precedent the Romulus court will be asked to apply: Hurson found that DHS likely failed to comply with NEPA and did not take “a ‘hard look’ at the potential environmental consequences” of converting a warehouse to a 542-detainee facility. See Maryland (Williamsport) fight.
  • April 22-23, 2026: DHS files ~500 pages of documents supplementing its response to Nessel and Romulus’s preliminary-injunction motion. DHS argues ICE needs the dedicated Metro Detroit detention center because the two closest facilities — IGSAs with St. Clair and Monroe counties — collectively provide only ~150 beds (per Detroit News reporting on the court filings).
  • April 24, 2026: Arizona AG Mayes files parallel NEPA lawsuit against Mullin/DHS over the Surprise warehouse — fourth state in the cluster (after MD, NJ, MI, AZ). See Surprise AZ fight.
  • April 25, 2026: ~200 protesters march 1.5 miles from Romulus Middle School to the Cogswell Street warehouse; Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist participates.
  • May 11, 2026: The ACLU of Michigan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and Detroit Justice Center move to join the lawsuit as parties.
  • May 21, 2026: Preliminary-injunction motion hearing held virtually (rescheduled from late April) — first hearing with all three intervenor organizations appearing as parties. No ruling reported as of late May.
  • June 2, 2026: Still no ruling on the preliminary injunction; case remains under advisement. No new filings or developments in the May 28–June 2 window.
  • June 18, 2026: AG Nessel announces DHS/ICE will not convert the Romulus warehouse into a detention center and intend to sell the property — a voluntary DHS withdrawal, not an adjudicated preliminary-injunction ruling. No PI motion was ever decided on the merits in this case.
  • June 23, 2026: A federal court filing confirms the sale intent (widely reported: Detroit Free Press, WOODTV, WWMT, CBS News).
  • As of the most recent status found (per cascade-research’s 2026-08-27 injunction-docket-census pass): Case 2:26-cv-10968-JJCG-EAS remains formally open — Nessel says it stays open until a written agreement guarantees the property is never used for detention. No confirmed completed sale as of that pass.

Instrument correction (2026-08-28): This case did not produce a preliminary injunction. It is documented on this page as “pending a preliminary-injunction ruling” through May/June 2026, and the record shows the PI motion was never decided — DHS mooted it by voluntarily announcing it would not proceed and would sell the property. This distinguishes Michigan from Maryland (PI granted and entered, Civil No. 26-733-BAH/1:26-cv-00733-BAH, D. Md., April 15, 2026 — confirmed by direct read of the signed memorandum opinion, ECF 43) and from Arizona (binding stipulated pause agreement, not a PI, Arizona v. Mullin, filed and court-approved June 30/July 1, 2026). See “Instrument distinctions across the four-state cluster” below.

DHS Pause and Noem-Era Review

The Romulus fight achieved something few local opponents have: the facility is now caught up in a federal-level policy reversal. Secretary Mullin’s review of Noem-era contracts puts all 11 warehouses on hold. The original plan was a $38.3B initiative for 92,000 beds through 8 mega-centers and 16 regional processing centers. DHS stated: “as with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals.”

DHS/ICE announced June 18, 2026 that it would not proceed with the Romulus conversion and intended to sell the property, per AG Nessel; a June 23 court filing confirmed the sale intent. No preliminary-injunction ruling was ever issued in the case (2:26-cv-10968-JJCG-EAS, E.D. Mich.) — the May 21, 2026 virtual hearing (the ACLU of Michigan, MIRC, and Detroit Justice Center joined as parties May 11) was the last litigation activity found before DHS mooted its own motion by withdrawing. The Hurson ruling in Maryland (April 15, 2026) on essentially the same NEPA argument was the most relevant out-of-circuit precedent cited during the litigation, but Michigan’s outcome was reached by voluntary agency retreat, not by the court applying that precedent to a ruling.

Instrument distinctions across the four-state cluster (verified 2026-08-28)

Per Michael Wriston’s May 6, 2026 Project Saltbox reporting on the Roxbury NJ case (https://www.projectsaltbox.com/p/new-jersey-town-of-roxbury-press), Michigan and Arizona had “parallel pending challenges” to the Maryland NEPA theory. As of the most recent status found for each, the four states resolved to four different legal instruments, not four preliminary injunctions:

  • Maryland (Williamsport) — Preliminary injunction granted and entered, April 15, 2026. State of Maryland v. Mullin et al., Civil No. 26-733-BAH (D. Md.), Judge Brendan A. Hurson. Verified by direct read of the signed memorandum opinion (ECF 43, cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/maryland/mddce/1:2026cv00733/600507/43/0.pdf): “the Court granted the State’s motion for a PI and entered a PI on April 15, 2026.” Enjoins construction/renovation for detention purposes at 16220 Wright Road, with narrow carve-outs (security cameras/lighting, fiberoptic alarm cable, HVAC repair, roof/wall leak repair, comms wiring, interior drywall).
  • New Jersey (Roxbury) — Joint stipulation, not a PI ruling. Filed May 12, 2026, mooting the scheduled injunction hearing before Judge Semper. DHS agreed to complete a full NEPA environmental assessment before construction. See Roxbury fight.
  • Arizona (Surprise) — Binding stipulated pause agreement, not a PI ruling. Filed June 30, 2026, announced July 1, in Arizona v. Mullin (D. Ariz., filed April 24, 2026). Pauses conversion work and bars detainee housing pending a NEPA environmental assessment. See Surprise AZ fight.
  • Michigan (Romulus) — Voluntary DHS withdrawal / sale-intent announcement, not a PI ruling and not a stipulation. Announced June 18, 2026; case remains formally open pending a written no-future-detention-use guarantee.

Only Maryland reached an actual preliminary injunction on the merits. The other three states each obtained a real, but legally distinct, form of relief — two negotiated stipulations pausing construction pending environmental review, and one unilateral agency retreat. The “each preliminary injunction strengthens the next state’s case” framing (as sometimes summarized in secondary coverage of this cluster) should be read precisely: Maryland’s PI and its “hard look”/categorical-exclusion reasoning is the precedent the other three cases cited and leveraged in negotiating their own (differently-shaped) outcomes — not that three more preliminary injunctions followed it.

The Multi-State Pattern

Romulus is one of four state-AG NEPA challenges to DHS warehouse-conversion in 2026. As of May 6:

  • Maryland (Williamsport) — preliminary injunction granted April 15, 2026. First successful state-level challenge; established the precedent.
  • Michigan (Romulus) — case filed March 24, 2026. Pending ruling.
  • New Jersey (Roxbury) — preliminary-injunction hearing scheduled for May 12, 2026 (Roxbury fight).
  • Arizona (Surprise) — case filed April 24, 2026 (Maricopa County, distinct from the existing Pinal County 287(g) matter). See Surprise AZ fight.

The same NEPA argument runs through all four cases: DHS used a categorical-exclusion approach, did not conduct adequate environmental review before purchase, and the planned conversion’s operational density (542 in MD/NJ filings, hundreds-to-1,500 in AZ) overwhelms local water/sewage/infrastructure systems originally designed for warehouse use.

Coalition to Shut the Camps

A coalition of community/immigrant rights activists, faith leaders, and environmental justice advocates has maintained a regular presence outside the facility, holding demonstrations every Saturday afternoon since the announcement. They report the movement is “gaining steam” with broader coalition support.

Metro Detroiters also staged walkouts at schools and businesses on January 30, 2026 to protest ICE enforcement more broadly.

Political Dynamics

Governor Whitmer’s silence while AG Nessel fights has drawn coverage. This split mirrors a pattern seen in other states where governors avoid confrontation while AGs take the lead.

Legislative Response

The Michigan Senate is advancing bills (SB 508, SB 510) to limit ICE enforcement in protected locations and require body cameras. Passed committee on party lines March 25, 2026. Faces Republican opposition in the House.

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.
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Last updated: Oct 8, 2026