Officials have argued in court filings that the projects are exempt from federally required assessments, but are scrambling after a judge disagreed.
The Trump administration is scrambling to conduct environmental impact reviews of warehouses it plans to convert into immigrant holding facilities, after a flurry of lawsuits claiming the administration sidestepped federal requirements.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is buying the warehouses to help it increase the rate of deportations, which depends on having enough space to house detainees. The administration currently has about 58,000 immigrants in custody, and fell short of its target to reach 100,000 beds by the end of last year.
But the plan to buy and retrofit commercial warehouses to accommodate tens of thousands more detainees may be delayed after hitting roadblocks, including opposition from residents and officials in the communities where the warehouses are located. Now, states are trying to block the projects by arguing that the Trump administration failed to do environmental reviews required under federal law.
In court filings, ICE officials have argued the warehouse renovations are exempt from reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act, citing a variety of reasons.
Justice Department officials have voiced concern in recent weeks that the approach could leave the administration vulnerable to legal challenges, internal documents show. Those fears were realized this month when a federal judge in Maryland blocked plans to retrofit a warehouse in the state, citing the lack of an environmental review.
“That Maryland result changed their strategy,” said Jamison E. Colburn, a professor at Pennsylvania State University who focuses on environmental law. The administration’s move to conduct environmental reviews, he said, appeared to be “them biting the bullet in view of a bigger loss if they didn’t.”