Sen. Chris Murphy Sends Warning Letters to 21 Municipalities Considering ICE Warehouse Detention Deals

On April 28, 2026, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, sent letters to 21 local governments across the United States that were actively considering allowing ICE to acquire residential warehouse properties for conversion to immigrant detention facilities. The letters warned that the warehouses “are not designed to house human beings,” that detainees would face “unsanitary, inhumane, and unlawful living conditions,” that the federal government would not be able to offset costs, and that “if Democrats retake control of Congress with the 2026 midterm elections, they would immediately aim to defund the warehouses, leaving local governments to foot the bill.” Recipients included Byhalia, Mississippi Mayor Donald Hollingsworth (independent).

Murphy’s letters arrived four weeks after Secretary Mullin’s quiet WEXMAC-TITUS warehouse-procurement pause (April 1-2, 2026) and concurrent with the multi-state attorney general filings (April 28: Washington, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Connecticut, West Virginia, and Illinois) on warehouse-detention conversion. The Murphy intervention adds federal-legislative pressure to the four other resistance vectors documented in the WEXMAC-TITUS collapse: state AG litigation, environmental-law challenges (PA DEP orders blocking water/sewer connections at Tremont and Upper Bern), county FOIA litigation (El Paso County Attorney Sanchez vs. ICE; Michigan AG Nessel vs. Romulus), and tribal sovereignty (Pine Ridge banishment of ICE). See also 2026-03-24–mullin-sworn-in-as-dhs-secretary and 2026-04-17–stateline-dhs-compromises-warehouse-detention-centers.