By early October, the ICE surge team was working through the government shutdown, even as other critical government work was put on hold. Days after the shutdown began, GSA was still awarding leases. On October 6, 2025, a signed internal memorandum stated that GSA should “approve of all new lease housing determinations associated with ICE hiring surge,” in light of ICE’s “urgent” space requirements and the purported impact of delays on the agency’s ability to “meet critical immigration enforcement deadlines.”
On October 9, the same day that Trump announced in a cabinet meeting that the government would be making “permanent” cuts from “Democrat programs” during the shutdown, GSA received a list from OPLA with requests for office locations, including expansions and new leases, in 41 cities around the country.
In a memorandum dated October 29, 2025, a representative from Homeland Security Investigations—one of the two major departments within ICE, along with ERO, and tasked with a wide range of investigative work in cases ranging from human trafficking to art theft—asked GSA’s office of general counsel to engage in nationwide lease acquisition on behalf of DHS “using the unusual and compelling urgency justification,” in accordance with Trump’s executive immigration order.
“If HSI cannot effectively obtain office space in a timely manner, HSI will be adversely impacted in accomplishing its mission—a mission that is inextricably tied to the Administration’s priority in protecting the American People Against Invasion,” the memorandum states.
By early November, according to documents viewed by WIRED, 19 projects had already been awarded in cities around the US, including Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Sacramento, California; and Tampa, Florida. Multiple projects were days away from being awarded in Miami, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New Orleans, Louisiana, among others, and emergency requests for short-term space had been made in eight cities, including Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newark, New Jersey.
In documents viewed by WIRED, ICE has repeatedly outlined its expansion to cities around the US. The September memorandum citing “unusual and compelling urgency” for office expansion states that OPLA will be “expanding its legal operations” into Birmingham, Alabama; Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, and Tampa, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; Louisville, Kentucky; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Grand Rapids, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Long Island, New York; Columbus, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Richmond, Virginia; Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The memorandum also states that the existing offices are at maximum capacity and will “require additional space” to accommodate the new employees hired. At the time, the memo states that OPLA had selected almost 1,000 attorneys to hire.
Months after the “surge” began, ICE’s expansion to American cities is well underway, according to documentation viewed by WIRED. The table below gives a detailed listing of planned ICE lease locations as of January, and includes current ICE offices that are set to expand and new spaces the agency is poised to occupy. It does not include more than 100 planned ICE locations across many states—including California, New York, and New Jersey—where WIRED has not viewed every specific address.
