A private equity firm bought a vacant Pennsylvania warehouse in September 2024. Sixteen months later, the U.S. government paid them $29.9 million more than they paid for it - no competitive bidding, no public notice, no explanation.
The U.S. government is spending up to $38.3 billion of your tax dollars buying warehouses to convert into immigrant detention centers. [Axios, Feb. 13, 2026] In Hamburg, Pennsylvania, ICE paid $87.4 million for a property that a private equity real estate firm bought just 16 months earlier for $57.5 million. That’s a $29.9 million windfall — roughly a 52% markup — on a building that sat completely vacant through the entire holding period. [Spotlight PA, Feb. 3, 2026]
When a journalist reached the firm’s partner by phone on the day the deed was recorded, the response was four words: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Then the line went dead. [Spotlight PA]
Hamburg is one deal. The government plans to do this across the country — $38 billion worth. The pattern is the same everywhere: vacant warehouses, fast closings, no competitive bidding, no community notice, prices well above recent purchase history. Somebody is making a lot of money. Your tax dollars are paying for it.
A $30 million profit in 16 months. A vacant warehouse. No competitive bidding. No explanation.
The Hamburg Deal, Step by Step
The property: 3501 Mountain Road, Upper Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. A 527,000-square-foot VERIFY: JLL listed 518,000 sq ft — confirm at Berks County Recorder Class A warehouse on 62 acres, built in 2021, delivered to market, and — critically — never occupied by a commercial tenant from day one. [JLL Press Release, Sept. 23, 2024]
The Chain of Ownership
Step 3 · February 2, 2026 · The Government Pays
ICE pays $87,400,000
Deed recorded February 2, 2026. VERIFY: confirm deed recording number at Berks County Recorder — bcdcpa.us The authorized signatory for PCCP on the deed: [NAME — confirm independently from deed before publishing]. When Spotlight PA reached that person by phone, they said they had “no idea” what the reporter was talking about — and hung up.
Who Are These Companies?
The Broader Pattern
Hamburg is one confirmed data point in what is shaping up to be a national program. ICE, armed with $45 billion from the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” VERIFY: confirm exact bill name and enacted amount is on a warehouse acquisition campaign unlike anything the agency has attempted before.
Known Purchases (as of Feb. 18, 2026)
The Tremont, PA Deal: Blue Owl Capital
The Schuylkill County warehouse near Tremont Township tells a similar story. It’s a 1.3-million-square-foot former Big Lots distribution center. Big Lots filed for bankruptcy late 2024, the building went vacant, 505 employees lost their jobs, VERIFY: confirm layoff figure and location and the property landed with Blue Owl Capital, a New York City asset manager. VERIFY: confirm at Schuylkill County Recorder of Deeds ICE paid $119 million for it. The property sits approximately 300 yards from a daycare center. VERIFY: confirm distance via mapping [Spotlight PA]
The Chester, NY Question: Carl Icahn
In Chester, New York, ICE purchased a former PepBoys auto parts distribution center. The last recorded sale prior to ICE’s purchase was in 2021, when the property was acquired by an LLC. Multiple outlets have reported a connection to billionaire investor and former Trump adviser Carl Icahn. ⚠ This claim requires independent verification at the Orange County, NY Clerk’s Office before publication. Icahn’s office has VERIFY: confirmed / denied / not yet responded to requests for comment.
The $38 Billion Plan
ICE’s full stated expansion plan, per a February 2026 planning memo shared with state officials: [Axios, Feb. 13, 2026]
8 “mega centers” — 7,000–10,000 people, up to 60-day stays
16 processing centers — 1,000–1,500 people, 3–7 day stays
10 additional enforcement facilities
Total target: 92,600 detention beds — nearly double current capacity
The Surveillance Layer: Fivecast ONYX + Persona
Separate from the real estate story — but happening simultaneously — is a parallel build-out of AI identification and surveillance infrastructure. This section covers findings from independent security researchers published at vmfunc.re on February 16, 2026, as well as separately documented government contract awards.
Fivecast ONYX: $4.2 Million for AI Surveillance
ICE separately awarded a $4.2 million contract to Fivecast for a platform called ONYX. CBP (Customs and Border Protection) purchased additional licenses. [OrangeSlices.ai] [CBP contract]
Per Fivecast’s own marketing documentation and EFF reporting: [EFF, Jan. 2026] ONYX automates data collection from 300+ social media and dark web platforms, searches 28+ billion data points, builds “digital footprints” from biographical data, assigns risk scores, and — in their words — identifies individuals with “violent tendencies.”
Persona and the Government Identity Platform
Security researchers (vmfunc.re) discovered that identity verification firm Persona operates a FedRAMP-authorized government platform at withpersona-gov.com. On February 4, 2026 — 12 days before publication — a new subdomain appeared in public certificate transparency logs: onyx.withpersona-gov.com. [crt.sh CT log]
From 53 megabytes of source code accidentally exposed on that government endpoint — served publicly without authentication — the researchers confirmed:
The platform files Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) directly with FinCEN (U.S. Treasury)
It files Suspicious Transaction Reports with FINTRAC (Canada’s equivalent), tagged with intelligence operation codenames: Project SHADOW, Project LEGION, Project GUARDIAN, Project ATHENA, Project CHAMELEON, Project PROTECT, Project ANTON
It runs 269 distinct verification checks per user, including one called
SelfieSuspiciousEntityDetection— criteria for “suspicious” undefined in the codeIt compares your selfie against a database of politically exposed persons using facial similarity scoring (Low / Medium / High)
It maintains biometric face databases with up to 3-year retention
It tracks users across 13 list types including face, browser fingerprint, device fingerprint, geolocation, and IP address
What the researchers explicitly did NOT find: any references in the source code to ICE, immigration enforcement, deportation, or the Fivecast product. The naming match between onyx.withpersona-gov.com and ICE’s Fivecast ONYX contract is real but not proven to represent a connection. Persona’s CEO Rick Song is reportedly in direct correspondence with the researchers. [vmfunc.re addendum, Feb. 18, 2026]
How to Verify the Key Claims Yourself
When covering complex investigations, transparency is everything. Don’t just take my word for it—here is exactly where you can verify the paper trail.
Hamburg deed: PCCP purchase (Sept. 2024) ↳ Where to check: Berks County Online Records Search (Requires free guest login)
Hamburg deed: ICE purchase (Feb. 2, 2026) ↳ Where to check: Berks County Online Records Search
Heitman loan on Hamburg property ↳ Where to check: Berks County Online Records Search (Search mortgage/lien by Heitman)
Chester, NY ownership chain ↳ Where to check: Orange County NY SearchIQS Land Records Portal
Schuylkill Co. (Tremont) deed & Blue Owl ↳ Where to check: Schuylkill County USLandRecords Search
ICE/Fivecast ONYX contract ↳ Where to check: USASpending.gov Advanced Search (Search vendor: Fivecast)
Persona FedRAMP authorization ↳ Where to check: FedRAMP Marketplace Products (Search: Persona)
https://www.google.com/search?q=onyx.withpersona-gov.com CT log ↳ Where to check: crt.sh Direct Query
openai-watchlistdb CT log ↳ Where to check: crt.sh Direct Query
PCCP Delaware LLC registration ↳ Where to check: Delaware Division of Corporations Entity Search
QuadReal → BCI pension connection ↳ Where to check: BC Investment Management Corp (bci.ca)
Primary Sources
01 | Spotlight PA ICE buys $87M warehouse in Berks County
02 | JLL Press Release Hamburg Logistics Center (Sept. 23, 2024)
03 | Commercial Property Executive PCCP Acquisition
04 | Axios ICE $38B Detention Plan
