JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office that handles legal proceedings could open in downtown Jacksonville amid nationwide expansion efforts, according to a new report by WIRED.
According to WIRED, federal records show that more than 150 leases and office expansions have or would place new facilities in nearly every state, including one in Jacksonville.
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The online report, published Tuesday, lists One Enterprise Center on Water Street as a potential Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) field location. According to the ICE website, OPLA serves as the exclusive representative of the Department of Homeland Security in immigration removal proceedings before the Executive Office for immigration review, litigating all removal cases.
However, a senior broker with NAI Hallmark, which operates commercial leasing for the property, told the Jacksonville Business Journal on Tuesday they are unaware of any deal with the agency, raising questions about how far the plans have progressed.
“ICE will not confirm office locations as our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them including an 8,000% increase in death threats against them and a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them,” an ICE spokesperson told the Business Journal Wednesday morning. “Is it really news that when a federal agency hires more personnel that they need more space? Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country. That’s a 120% increase in our workforce.”
News4JAX reached out to ICE to ask about the plans, but it did not immediately respond.
According to a September memorandum reviewed by WIRED, the existing offices are at maximum capacity and will “require additional space” to accommodate the new employees hired. At the time, the memo stated that OPLA had selected almost 1,000 attorneys to hire.
According to the ICE website, Jacksonville currently has a field office location on Veveras Drive. This location covers Duval, Saint John’s, Nassau, Flagler, Putnam, Baker, Clay, Gilchrist, Bradford, Colombia, Union and Levy counties.
The website also shows there are currently four OPLA locations across Florida including one in Orlando, two in Miami and one in Pompano Beach.
If the One Enterprise Center location opens, this would be the first OPLA office in Jacksonville.
According to the report, ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, have set out on an aggressive and largely undisclosed real estate expansion aimed at increasing the physical footprint of immigration enforcement operations across nearly every state. Other media have found indications that the agency was looking for space in their cities.
WIRED said it reached out to the owners of private properties at which ICE is planning to lease space, or to agents and managers associated with these properties, but they did not respond to their inquiries, or declined to comment.
Other possible planned ICE offices across Florida include Miami, Naples, Orlando and Sunrise, according to WIRED.