GAO Says ICE Wasted Millions On Unused Detention Tents And Warehouses
The Government Accountability Office said Thursday, September 24, 2026, that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent tens of millions of dollars on detention tents and warehouses that went largely unused.[1]
The GAO found the Guantánamo Bay tent camp was built to hold 5,000 detainees but averaged 16 people per day as of June 2026.[2] The report ties $20.5 million in administrative costs and utilities to seven warehouses the Department of Homeland Security bought and later decided to sell.[2] It also records $7.1 million spent on food that was not needed at one new Texas detention camp.[2] As of publication, neither ICE nor DHS had responded to the New York Times' request for comment.[2]
President Trump's pledge to massively expand detention capacity preceded the rapid purchases and construction documented in the GAO report, and the Times says those moves came amid record immigrant arrests and a sharp drop in illegal border crossings.[2] Earlier reporting had flagged broad waste and unrecoverable costs, but the GAO's figures give a clearer dollar accounting of tents, warehouses and unused supplies.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- The GAO report, released Thursday, September 24, 2026 (Central), says the Guantánamo Bay tent camp was built to hold 5,000 detainees but had an average daily population of 16 as of June 2026.
- The New York Times reports $20.5 million in administrative costs and utilities tied to the seven warehouses that DHS bought and later decided to sell, expanding on previous references to unrecoverable costs.
- $7.1 million was spent on food that was not needed at one of the new Texas detention camps, according to the Times’ accounting of the GAO findings.
- The Times frames the GAO findings as documenting a broader “spending spree” tied to President Trump’s pledge to expand detention, noting record immigrant arrests and that illegal border crossings “have come to a halt” in the context of the waste.
- As of the article’s publication, neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security had responded to the New York Times’ request for comment on the GAO’s findings.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- The GAO report released Thursday, September 24, 2026, specifies that the Guantánamo Bay tent camp was built to hold 5,000 detainees but had an average daily population of 16 as of June 2026.
- The New York Times piece quantifies $20.5 million in administrative costs and utilities for the seven warehouses that DHS bought and later decided to sell, expanding on earlier references to unrecoverable costs.
- The article reports that $7.1 million was wasted on food that was not needed at one of the new Texas detention camps, a figure not detailed in prior summaries.
- The Times characterizes the GAO report as documenting a broader 'spending spree' linked to President Trump’s pledge to massively expand detention, noting record immigrant arrests and that illegal border crossings 'have come to a halt' as part of the context for the waste findings.
- Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to the New York Times’ request for comment on the GAO’s findings as of the article’s publication.