Late last Thursday night, activist Chelsea Howard said she received a document from a friend showing that a vacant warehouse in Marshall County was being scouted as a potential facility. Large-scale ICE facilities are often repurposed warehouses or existing jails and prisons, designed to hold thousands of non-citizens for immigration proceedings.
She quickly set up a press conference at the warehouse for 9:00 a.m., the same time the document said a tour was scheduled for the facility.
"I kind of hoped that it was fake and we would show up, and nobody would be there, but that wasn't the case," she said.
When she arrived, she said about 20 cars were parked outside — she couldn't tell who was there for the rally and who was there to inspect the building.
"As people started to get out of their vehicles and kind of convened for the press conference, several vehicles drove off and went around to the back of the building," she said.
"After the press conference, we did walk up to the facility and peek through the windows, and they were in there: they were recording us, we were recording them."
The alleged government document Howard shared estimated that a potential facility would have approximately 8,500 beds across nearly 800,000 square feet — labeling it as a "mega site." It's one of 24 locations across the U.S. listed in the document with visits scheduled from January 12-16. The document appears to show that ICE is looking to utilize buildings totaling more than 15 million square feet to house more than 85,000 beds.
MPB reached out to ICE, as well as the individual listed in the alleged government document as the point of contact for the facility tour. Calls were not returned.
A LinkedIn profile for an ICE Deputy Field Office Director matches the first name and last initial of the document's point of contact. His field office coverage area also matches several other locations for which the individual is listed as a contact.
While the people touring the warehouse went inside, locals from the nearby town of Byhalia gathered outside to express their concerns.
"They were concerned about the development of a facility in Byhalia and the implications of that: being that ICE would be probably very active in Byhalia, that their Hispanic community would probably be terrorized," Howard said. "And that the relationship between the residents and law enforcement would start to break down."
Lifelong Marshall County resident Montravius Hall does not want it in his town, saying it'll endanger their Hispanic community and the community at large.
"It's literally seven minutes away from my house," Hall said. "They're trying to set up shop here in Byhalia to house 8,500 immigrants, and that is not OK."
Hall works in real estate and said it's unlikely the warehouse could reasonably hold that many people.
"No warehouse is going to house 8,500 people," he said. "This, with no materials and equipment and stuff on the inside... That means you're gonna be jam-packed in. There's no way people are gonna be treated right in that type of square footage."
