In a letter to the New York congressman who represents Buffalo, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed that his agency plans to move forward with plans to expand the only Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New York. Julio Cortez/Associated PressThe Department of Homeland Security is moving forward with a previously announced expansion of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Batavia, adding 100 beds to the facility’s capacity.Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed the plans in a Sept. 29 letter to U.S. Rep. Timothy Kennedy, which Kennedy made public last week. Kennedy, a Democrat whose district includes Buffalo and the surrounding area, serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security.Article continues below this adThe Buffalo Service Processing Center expansion is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to boost immigration detention capacity as enforcement and arrests have increased nationwide. New York’s only ICE facility has a capacity of 650 beds and houses an entirely male population. According to Mullin’s letter, there were 653 detainees at the Batavia facility as of July 8, before the agency launched a targeted statewide operation that resulted in nearly 2,200 New Yorkers being arrested.Mullin’s letter was in response to a directive from Kennedy that ICE discontinue any planned expansion at Batavia. The congressman wrote that “ICE has expanded its footprint — frequently over the objections of local communities — without proper consideration for detainee health or safety,” and expressed concern “that a new facility at Batavia would follow this same pattern, prioritizing rapid facility construction over DHS’s obligation to ensure that every individual in its custody is held in a safe, humane, and dignified manner.”ICE will use the expansion to house female detainees, Mullin said in his response, adding that it comes in response to a recently enacted state law that limits local law enforcement agencies from collaborating with the federal agency. Prior to that law being enacted, county jails were able to enter into contracts with ICE to house detainees, including women.“The American people voted overwhelmingly in 2024 for mass deportations, and that is what this Department, under my leadership, is going to deliver, in part due to increased ICE detention capacity,” Mullin wrote.Article continues below this adThe Batavia facility is located on federally owned property and operated for ICE by the private contractor Akima Global Services. That company was also awarded the nearly $17 million contract to carry out the expansion, funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That contract covers the construction and initial management of the expansion, but many details remain unclear, including technical details of the expansion and when it is scheduled to be completed. Mullin noted in his response to Kennedy that construction had not yet begun.U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Albany, visited the Batavia detention center in August after the expansion was announced. On Sept. 21, he penned a letter to DHS leadership asking for more information regarding the expansion, citing anecdotes he had heard from constituents about poor conditions in the facility and critiquing the agency’s practice of arresting individuals with no criminal record.“Instead of pushing for comprehensive immigration reform, Trump’s ICE agents are rounding up members of our community — most of whom have no criminal record whatsoever — gunning down immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, and ripping families apart,” Tonko said in a statement to the Times Union.State Sen. Pat Fahy, who also represents the Capital Region, has similarly heard from constituents who have been directly impacted or have family members who are impacted by federal immigration enforcement that brings them to the Batavia facility.Article continues below this adShe emphasized how many of those affected by ongoing immigration enforcement in the area have no criminal record, describing many federal enforcement actions as an “overreach,” and reiterated her support for the recently enacted state law.“This is about people who came here to have some type of legal status,” Fahy said. “It’s just an overreach, which is why I supported measures to prevent our local police from working with ICE.”Oct 6, 2026Report for America Corps Member/Staff WriterCat Carroll covers New Americans as a Report for America corps member. Before joining the Times Union, she reported internationally on migration with the support of the Wolff Fellowship and as a 2025 Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium Reporting Fellow. She got her start in journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she served as managing editor and later chair of the board of directors of the independent student newspaper The Badger Herald. She grew up in Milwaukee, Wis., and speaks German, Spanish and some Arabic. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today. You can reach her at cat.carroll@timesunion.com.