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By early October, the ICE team was working through the government shutdown, even as other important government business was suspended. Days after the shutdown began, GSA was still awarding leases. On October 6, 2025, a signed internal memo stated that GSA must “approve all new housing leasing decisions associated with increased ICE staffing,” in light of ICE’s “urgent” space requirements and the alleged impact of the delays on the agency’s ability to “meet critical immigration enforcement deadlines.”
On October 9, the same day Trump announced At a Cabinet meeting stating that the government would make “permanent” cuts from “democratic programmes” during the lockdown, the GSA received a list from OPLA of applications for office sites, including expansions and new leases, in 41 cities across the country.
In a memo dated October 29, 2025, a representative from Homeland Security Investigations — one of the two main departments within ICE, along with ERO, and charged with a wide range of investigative work on issues ranging from human trafficking to art theft — asked GSA’s Office of General Counsel to participate in procuring nationwide leases on behalf of DHS “using a justification of extraordinary and compelling urgency,” according to Trump’s executive immigration order.
“If HSI is unable to effectively acquire office space in a timely manner, HSI will be adversely affected in fulfilling its mission — a mission closely tied to the Administration’s priority of protecting the American people against invasion,” the memo said.
By early November, According to documents reviewed by WIRED, 19 projects have already been awarded in cities across the United States, including Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Sacramento, California; And Tampa, Florida. Multiple projects were days away from being awarded in Miami, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New Orleans, Louisiana, among others, and emergency requests for short-term space have been submitted in eight cities, including Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; And Newark, New Jersey.
In documents seen by WIRED, ICE repeatedly explained its expansion to cities across the United States. The September memo, citing a “urgent and unusual need” for office expansion, states that OPLA will “expand its law operations” to Birmingham, Alabama; Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, and Tampa, Florida; Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; Louisville, Kentucky; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Grand Rapids, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; Long Island, New York; Columbus, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Richmond, Virginia; Spokane, Washington, and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The memo also states that existing offices are operating at maximum capacity and will require “additional space” to accommodate new hires. At the time, the memo states, OPLA selected nearly 1,000 attorneys for employment.
Months after the “surge” began, ICE’s expansion into U.S. cities is well underway, according to documents reviewed by WIRED. The table below provides a detailed list of planned ICE lease locations as of January, and includes existing ICE offices that are scheduled to expand and new spaces the agency is preparing to occupy. It does not include more than 100 planned ICE locations in several states — including California, New York and New Jersey — where WIRED did not see every specific address.