Immigration and Customs Enforcement reverses course, says it hasn’t purchased facility in Lebanon

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not purchased a detention facility in Lebanon, a spokesperson said Tuesday, reversing course after an uproar from local and state officials with no knowledge of the supposed plan. 

“That statement was sent without proper approval and this mistake has since been rectified,” said an unidentified spokesperson from the department’s public affairs office Tuesday evening. 

On Friday, a reporter for the Lookout emailed the ICE media department to ask whether the agency had plans to purchase, lease, or build detention facilities in Tennessee. 

A spokesperson for the department confirmed to the Lookout that the department had purchased property in Lebanon as part of a nationwide $38.3 billion plan to acquire warehouses across the country and turn them into large-scale immigrant detention centers holding tens of thousands of people awaiting deportation or immigration hearings. 

The Washington Post first reported on the national building spree.

The Lookout sent a follow-up email to the same ICE spokesperson, seeking clarification as to whether they meant Lebanon, Tennessee, or Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where ICE has also purchased warehouses for immigrant detention.  

“Hi – Yes, I do mean Lebanon, Tennessee,” the ICE spokesperson replied. 

A spokesperson for ICE confirmed to multiple news outlets on Monday and Tuesday the plan for a Lebanon facility. But by Tuesday evening, the department sent out an email to Middle Tennessee news outlets retracting its previous statements. 

“It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space,” said an ICE spokesperson. 

ICE officials did not respond by the time of publication to a question about whether the department has no plans to build a detention facility in Lebanon or just hasn’t made a purchase as of Tuesday. 

The new facility raised concerns in Wilson County, where Lebanon is the county seat. The county mayor and the community’s state representatives said they were unaware of the planned detention center. ICE has planned similar projects without notifying local officials in New Hampshire and Oklahoma. When Oklahoma officials learned of a planned facility in Oklahoma City, a concerted community pushback led ICE to scrap it. 

Anita Wadhwani contributed to this report.

This story may be updated.