ICE in Boise wants a million-dollar expansion. Here's what we know

Carolyn Komatsoulis, The Idaho Statesman on Sep 16, 2025

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BOISE, Idaho — Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning a $1.3 million expansion of its Boise office, according to a permit application filed with the city of Boise.

The move is likely part of the Trump administration’s infusion of cash into the immigration agency. President Donald Trump’s key policy act, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” allocated $75 billion for ICE, according to CBS News. This year, ICE has almost $30 billion to use, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

“There’s a whole bunch of money, and I anticipate it’s going to be spread out throughout ICE operations across the United States,” Chris Christensen, a Boise immigration attorney, said Monday by phone. “...I think the most disappointing thing to me, again, is the government is using every single resource it has available to get people to leave.”

The permit, filed by Boise-based architecture firm Erstad, said ICE plans to remove and add walls to reconfigure an office area as well as create new storage rooms. The space is in an office building the government leases at 1185 S. Vinnell Way, just south of the Flying Wye near the Walmart on Overland Road. A representative from Erstad did not return a call and email seeking comment.

ICE has not yet uploaded or submitted its plans, city spokesperson Maria Ortega said in an email.

In the past, ICE agents often wouldn’t pick up immigrants released from incarceration, according to previous Statesman reporting. Idaho State Police Director Bill Gardiner didn’t even have contact information for ICE until the new administration took office. In an interview, Gardiner called the agency virtually “nonexistent” in the state for the better part of a decade.

But since January, local ICE agents have lowered the bar on who they want to deport and have changed their tactics, including smashing car windows. At the same time, Idaho immigrants are facing a more hostile bureaucracy and chaotic environment, like last-minute hearing cancellations.

The expansion likely means that ICE will continue ramping up its efforts in Idaho, according to Christensen.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not return an email seeking comment.

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