Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the city of Romulus filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to stop the Trump administration from converting a local warehouse into a large-scale immigration detention center.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, asks a judge to declare the plan unlawful and permanently block the conversion of the facility at 7525 Cogswell Street into a detention center, which is expected to hold up to 500 people.
“As the state’s Attorney General, I have a legal and moral obligation to act if and when this administration behaves unlawfully and does so in a way that harms Michigan residents,” Nessel said. “The Romulus Warehouse is simply not—and never will be—an appropriate place for a large-scale detention center. DHS in its zealous quest for a bigger nationwide footprint, appears to have conducted an ill-conceived rush job, free from any traditional planning considerations or even basic concern for the many Romulus residents who will be impacted by their actions.”
According to the lawsuit, federal officials quietly purchased the roughly 249,000-square-foot warehouse in February without notifying state or local officials and intend to retrofit it as part of an aggressive push to expand immigration detention capacity nationwide.
State and city officials argue the site is ill-suited for detention, citing its proximity to homes and schools, its location in a floodplain with recent flooding, and infrastructure limitations. The building has only six bathrooms and is connected to a sewer system that the lawsuit says cannot support hundreds of detainees and staff.
The complaint also alleges the project would strain local police, fire, and emergency services, worsen traffic on a three-lane road, and threaten nearby wetlands and protected wildlife habitat.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight said the city is already burdened by major infrastructure, including the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and an existing hazardous waste injection well.
“Two words I hate to use when describing my home city are ‘overburdened and underserved,’” McCraight said. “We are not asking for a handout, just the chance to grow and improve the quality of life for our residents, unburdened by outside interference.”
The lawsuit claims the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated multiple federal laws, including the Administrative Procedure Act, by failing to consider alternative sites, such as existing prisons or jails, and by not consulting with state and local officials before purchasing the property.
It also alleges the agencies failed to conduct required environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, despite the site’s location in a federally recognized floodplain and near protected wetlands.
State Rep. Dylan Wegela, whose district includes the site, criticized ICE’s record and warned of potential consequences.
“This year alone at least 13 people have died in ICE custody,” Wegela said. “It’s a disaster in the making.”
The Romulus property is one of roughly two dozen industrial warehouses that the Trump administration has targeted for conversion as part of a plan to significantly expand detention capacity. The lawsuit says the initiative aims to increase available detention beds to more than 90,000 nationwide.
City and state officials are asking the court to halt any construction or operation of the facility while the case proceeds.