NEW: We're making public 7 environmental site assessments prepared for DHS in the lead-up to their purchase of warehouses across the U.S. These newly available documents come as the agency prepares to sell them following a year of resistance. www.documentcloud.org/projects/226...

Timeline of GEO and CoreCivic facilities becoming operational: Nov-Dec 2026: Prairie Detention Facility Appleton, MN (CoreCivic) Jan-Mar 2027: Big Horn Detention Center Hudson, CO (GEO); Rivers Correctional Center Winton, NC(GEO) Apr-Jun 2027: Big Spring Complex Big Spring, TX (GEO)

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · last wk.

Our reporting on today's GEO Group investor call.

KVG LLC SK2 LLC Rudiarius Garda World Federal Services Response AI Solutions MVM Inc ERO ONE Palantir GEO Group CoreCivic Amentum Services Cushman & Wakefield Akima Rapid Deployment Savvy Professor LLC Global Recovery Group The Baptiste Group

Senator Ron Wyden@wyden.senate.gov · last wk.

Subpoenas.

We’re coming up on PSB’s first birthday. As our reporting evolves to match the administrations changing tactics and agenda, we want to know: What would be useful for you? How area you using or reporting? Is it useful?

James Grossmann, the owner of Rudiarius, is listed in the so-called Infrastructure Analysis for the Social Circle, Georgia, warehouse. Rudiarius also played a role in the NEPA assessments for several other warehouse projects.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 2mo ago

🚨 UPDATE: A joint venture of SK2 LLC and Rudiarius won a $655M contract today to expand detention sites at what ICE calls the "Mega Hub DC": Aguadilla, Broadview, Guantánamo Bay, Huntsville, Oakdale, St. Thomas and Honolulu. SK2, by the way, was ICE's property broker for the warehouse scheme.

My phone’s pinned messages: family, friends, and the SAM.gov authentication code I’ll need in 30 seconds.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 2mo ago

I can’t say for sure, but it sure does seem like DHS has switched to posting all its big contracts after hours on Friday night. See: ERO ONE or yesterday’s massive detention space injection. I’d like to imagine it’s because ICE thinks we’ll miss it. But joke’s on them! We don’t have lives.

As a volunteer investigative team, we never ask for money. But we back people doing the work on the ground. We report on the detention and enforcement system. Asylee Women Enterprise supports the PEOPLE living under it. They need a permanent home in Baltimore. If you can give, please do.

A Forever Home for Asylee Women Enterprise (AWE)

We’re asking people who believe in our mission to help us reach our goal and build a permanent home for AWE and the communities we serve.

givebutter.com

There has been, rightfully, a lot of angst about ICE buying robot dogs and shock gloves. There is not NEARLY enough outrage about the massive detention apparatus they are building out, or the inexperienced contractors "checking in" on migrant children, or collecting fines in foreign countries, etc.

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is why you can't have healthcare. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/ice-buy-robot-dogs-immigration-enforcement-rcna594897

Baltimore Magazine's editors (unexpectedly) named Project Salt Box "Best Watchdog." Thank you to the readers, partners, and sources who make our work possible.

There’s a massive immigration operation in Memphis right now, but you may not have heard about it. Why? Community members face retaliation for trying to spread the word out, a lawsuit alleges.

Memphis is “under full-blown occupation” by ICE. Here’s why you may not know that.

Community members face retaliation for trying to spread the word out, a lawsuit alleges.

motherjones.com

GardaWorld is also continuing their recruitment of security guards for the site with the disclaimer, “Please be advised that this is a future-dated opening, and selected candidates will be placed in a pipeline for an anticipated mobilization later this year."

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 6mo ago

BREAKING: The stop work order at the Surprise, Ariz. ICE warehouse has been rescinded. The task order to GardaWorld to resume work hit federal contracting databases today.

Here 8 of the 10 “turnkey” facilities ICE is looking to purchase outright from private prison firms according to multiple sources. These would be much harder to fight than the warehouses, and would be “immune” from state or county level legislation as federal enclaves.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 6mo ago

"A second individual, speaking to Project Salt Box on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, identified eight GEO-operated detention facilities that federal officials have examined as potential acquisition targets."

ICE's detention capability in four slides. 1. All existing immigration detention centers in operation today 2. Plus all purchased warehouses (minus paused/halted ones) 3. Plus all facilities proposed to be reopened or acquired 4. Plus all hold rooms and check-in sites used for detainee 'staging'

Always fun to discover that DHS can’t even redact documents correctly.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 7mo ago

Improperly redacted documents filed in federal court last week have revealed Rudiarius LLC as a likely environmental analysis subcontractor in ICE's Detention Reengineering Initiative — DHS's effort to acquire and renovate warehouses for expanded detention.

We just added a new tab to the @projectsaltbox tracker focused on litigation. We’re following active cases in MD, MI, NJ, and TX tracking claims, relief sought, and each procedural move. This is a living doc, and we’ll keep updating as new filings land: datastudio.google.com/reporting/b0...

ICE Warehouse Tracker

Looker Studio turns your data into informative dashboards and reports that are easy to read, easy to share, and fully customizable.

datastudio.google.com

Update on this one — ICE officially added this to their forecast a couple days ago. They plan to lease workstations for 300+ personnel by the end of May, spending up to $5M on coworking space.

ICE Seeking Office Space in Over 40 States

An RFI released today details ICE's plans to rent co-working space for over 300 personnel nationwide

open.substack.com

New at tracker.projectsaltbox.com We've added a sales analysis tab that breaks down the data behind ICE's purchase of 11 warehouses (so far) — what each site cost, where the money went, and what the operating bill looks like going forward. Click the "Sales Analysis" link at the top of the page.

As of this afternoon, ICE has purchased 11 warehouses for conversion into detention camps. 11 sales have been canceled. ICE has spent $1.04 billion on warehouse acquisitions. It will cost the government an estimated $7.57 billion to operate all 11 warehouses per year.

Maryland banned 287(g). Within days, county sheriffs were on camera explaining how they'd keep working with ICE anyway. That's why we support HB 1575 and SB 791 — the Community Trust Act. Here's our open letter to the General Assembly urging them to pass these critical bills.

An Open Letter from Project Salt Box in Support of HB 1575 and SB 791

The 287(g) ban closed one door, but the pipeline into ICE custody is still open.

open.substack.com

Haven't checked the 287(g) page in a while, but @bremg.bsky.social found that this language was quietly added — a quick check of Internet Archive shows that this popped up on/about Sunday, Feb. 15. Our assessment: ICE is looking to find workarounds to 287(g) bans.

Another good way to keep tabs on these warehouses - check local job postings.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 8mo ago

The first job postings for the Williamsport, Md. ICE detention warehouse appeared online. The “humanitarian response” firm behind them has never held a federal contract.

Maryland lawmakers moved Thursday to draw new limits around immigration detention in the state, passing emergency measures on zoning, safety standards and civil rights accountability — all in response to a $102 million federal warehouse purchase made with little public notice.

Maryland House Passes Trio of Immigration Bills in Response to Federal Detention Push

Three emergency measures would set new limits on immigration detention in Maryland — and give residents the right to sue federal officers in state court.

projectsaltbox.substack.com

🚨Baltimore - recent developments are pointing to a potential ICE surge

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 9mo ago

What a meal contract reveals about ICE's plans for Baltimore: a nearly threefold increase in detainee capacity, a contested new facility already named in procurement records, and a city bracing for what comes next.

BREAKING Maryland AG Brown files lawsuit to block Hagerstown ICE warehouse. “The lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE violated NEPA by purchasing the property and moving forward with construction plans without conducting any of these required steps.”

Maintenance is done! New on the ICE Warehouse Tracker: ➡️ Price Delta Scorecard: % markup from last sale/appraisal to ICE purchase price ➡️ Site Capacity Table: New operational & bed-count tables ➡️ Finance Table: Stats for sales history, ops costs, & tax loss 🔗 tinyurl.com/ICEWarehouse...

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 9mo ago

🛠️ MAINTENANCE UPDATE The ICE Warehouse Tracker is getting a new column: The Appraisal Gap. We’re now tracking the dollar amount ICE paid above the last official sale or property appraisal. Expect some glitches over the next hour while we bake this in!

Our team at @projectsaltbox.bsky.social analyzed DHS docs recently sent to Merrimack,NH outlining ICE’s detention reengineering initiative. Shockingly, USCIS seems to be involved in detention planning, and less shockingly, former Geo Group exec is too.

Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 9mo ago

🚨 Internal ICE docs show USCIS Deputy Chief Tim Kaiser asking ICE adviser David Venturella if 60-day stays at mega-centers are correct. Venturella says, “Ideally 30… but 60 is fine.” But why is USCIS weighing in on ICE detention? More here: projectsaltbox.substack.com/p/nternal-ic...

The team here at PSB have been so moved to hear from you tonight. We hope that our tools help you bring about change. We all have one life to live, and THIS moment to rise to. Learn what’s being bought, apply public pressure to companies and public officials, and find community in resistance.

A kind reader made this set of instructions on how Marylanders can sign up and provide testimony on HB 630! Comprehensive, easy to follow — thanks, Ira! To my fellow crabfolk, let us know when you’ve signed up and submitted testimony on Feb 16! If you’re wondering what you can be doing, this is it

Submit Written Testimony to Support House Bill 630

Submit Written Testimony to Support House Bill 630! (if you’re a Maryland resident) The House Bill is part of the Judiciary Committee, you can see the bill tracker here: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/m...

docs.google.com

Today in the Salt Box... 📧A Washington County, Md. resident shares her grief over the looming ICE detention warehouse 🪧 MD residents have a brief — but impactful — opportunity to make their voices heard 📬 We want to hear from you! Send us your stories at projectsaltbox@proton.me

Community Voices: 'I Don't Feel Protected. I Feel Exposed.'

A Washington County resident speaks out on the proposed Williamsport detention facility

projectsaltbox.substack.com