Where in North Carolina Is ICE Looking to Expand?

This article first appeared on NCLocal.

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement pushes to aggressively increase its detention capacity, here’s where the agency is considering opening new detention facilities and administrative offices in North Carolina.

Where does ICE hold detainees in North Carolina?

While Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates and makes arrests across the state, the agency currently has at least three field offices in North Carolina—in Charlotte, Cary, and Hendersonville.

All three offices are also described as “hold rooms,” or temporary holding spaces. Each housed ICE detainees in 2025, according to arrest data obtained by the Deportation Data Project.

Where could ICE open new facilities?

Winton, in northeastern North Carolina

In September, The Assembly and Down from DC reported that GEO Group, a private prison operator, was in negotiations with ICE to reopen a private federal prison facility it owns in Winton, in Eastern North Carolina. The Hertford County facility, Rivers Correctional Institution, has the capacity to hold more than 1,300 people and previously housed ICE detainees before its 2021 closure, according to inspection reports.

Greensboro, in North Carolina’s Piedmont

The American Civil Liberties Union recently released documents it obtained through a federal Freedom of Information Act request and a subsequent lawsuit, suggesting ICE is considering opening an immigration detention center in Greensboro, which would be operated by the Baptiste Group, a Georgia-based company. The documents the ACLU obtained were proposals Baptiste Group and GEO Group submitted to ICE for possible detention facilities in North Carolina and Virginia. 

The federal government had previously leased the proposed site, the now-closed American Hebrew Academy, to house unaccompanied migrant children, but never did, The Assembly reported. The Federal Emergency Management Agency later said it would use the site as a training center after Hurricane Helene, which hit Western North Carolina in September 2024. FEMA ended its operations at the facility in February 2025.

Concord, near Charlotte

WFAE and the Charlotte Observer reported in February that ICE was considering purchasing a warehouse in Concord, about 30 miles northeast of Charlotte, to house up to 1,500 detainees.

The reports followed a New York Times story that listed Concord as a proposed site where ICE was looking to expand its detention capacity.

Will ICE open more administrative offices?

In February, WIRED reported on ICE’s rapid expansion plans, listing two proposed sites for new administrative offices—one in Cary and another in Charlotte. 

NC Newsline reported in February that the U.S. General Services Administration, which manages procurement for the federal government, entered into a 5-year, $3.5 million lease agreement for a Cary office in October. 

WIRED reported that the planned location for the new Charlotte ICE office is Whitehall Corporate Center, where the GSA has already entered into at least four lease agreements for other federal agencies, like the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, also has a Homeland Security Investigations office at this location. The most recent lease agreement for the property was entered into in March 2024, according to the GSA’s lease portal.

How have local officials responded?

In most cases, local officials from municipalities where ICE reportedly plans to expand have said they were unaware of the projects.

“At this time, the town has not received any requests or permit applications from ICE,” Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht wrote in a February 22 blog post in response to “dozens of emails” he received about ICE’s planned new office. “However, they could proceed there, and we do not have the authority to stop them.”

An ICE spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. 

In Greensboro, the City Council amended local zoning rules requiring special-use permits for detention facilities and limiting where they can be located, WFDD reported. Local officials there have also said the federal government hasn’t contacted the city about a new detention center.

ICE’s reported plans have also sparked backlash in some communities, with several protests and demonstrations staged at potential facility locations. 

In Concord, Indivisible Cabarrus County organized a protest near a warehouse that the group believes ICE is considering for a 1,500-bed detention center. The property’s owner has denied that its warehouse will be used for ICE detention. Demonstrators also rallied outside GEO Group’s regional office in Ballantyne.

About the Data Visualizations

Hold room detention data covers the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, from January 20 to October 15, 2025. Detention data does not include arrests made during “Charlotte’s Web,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection immigration enforcement operation that occurred in November 2025 in Charlotte and the Triangle.

Until recently, the Alamance County Detention Center in Graham housed ICE detainees, but in November, Sheriff Terry Johnson abruptly ended his agreement to hold detainees for ICE outside of what state law mandates. Johnson has said he’s in negotiations to re-enter an agreement with ICE to potentially hold more detainees at a former state prison unit located in the county.

The New Hanover County Detention Center in Castle Hayne holds ICE detainees because it has an agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service, which ICE can utilize.

More than 25 local law enforcement agencies have entered 287(g) agreements with ICE. These partnerships allow deputies and other law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws. According to Deportation Data Project data, jails operated by some of these agencies have also held ICE detainees.