GAO: ICE wasted $20M+ on detention buildout without a plan
A government watchdog says ICE wasted more than $20 million expanding detention without a full strategy. Democrats requested the review as DHS funding fights continue on the Hill.
The Government Accountability Office found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wasted more than $20 million in its rapid push to expand detention capacity, according to a report highlighted Thursday and still shaping Tuesday’s Homeland Security funding debate. CBS News, Bloomberg Law, and PBS NewsHour summarize the same core finding: ICE raced to add beds after Congress loaded multi-year enforcement money into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Secure America Act without a comprehensive strategic plan for how to spend it.
GAO pointed to failed or abandoned initiatives — including Guantánamo tent capacity that never housed detainees, warehouse purchases later walked back amid community opposition, and costly state-facility reimbursement rates far above ICE’s normal per-day costs. Detainee counts rose sharply from early 2025 baselines into the mid-60,000s by mid-2026 in the watchdog’s framing. DHS agreed to develop a strategic plan but told GAO it may not finish until August 31, 2027 — a timeline GAO warned could allow more waste given the unprecedented multi-year appropriation.
Separately, the overnight politics desk still sees no clean Monday DHS/ICE appropriations deal that would settle reform-versus-enforcement riders. House Republicans previously advanced a roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement package toward the president’s desk; Democrats are using the GAO findings to argue oversight must catch up to the cash. Administration spokespeople say ICE is moving at “turbo speed” on a voter mandate for deportations. Tuesday’s verified lane: watchdog waste findings are on the record; a terminal clean DHS funding bill is not. Watch Hill markups, IG audits of charter flights and OBBBA spending, and whether leadership attaches ICE-planning conditions to the next stopgap.
Where outlets agree CBS, Bloomberg Law, and PBS agree GAO found more than $20 million wasted in ICE’s rapid detention expansion without a full plan.
Where they differ DHS casts the spending as delivering mass-deportation goals; Democratic requesters and GAO stress planning failures and long-term affordability risks.