Hollywood News
US Reveals $38 Billion Plan to Transform How It Detains Migrants
The Trump administration is moving forward with a $38.3 billion plan to restructure the U.S. immigration detention system; The plan is a far-reaching expansion that authorities say will streamline operations and speed up deportations.
“This new model will allow ICE to create an effective detention network by reducing the total number of contract detention facilities in use, increasing total bed capacity, improving detention management, and streamlining removal operations,” according to the documents. It was published On the New Hampshire government website.
The Washington Post previously reported on the plans.
As part of a broader detention mandate that President Donald Trump has implemented since returning to office last year, the administration has begun purchasing warehouse buildings across the country with plans to convert them into immigrant detention centers. The purchases have sparked concerns from local communities and political leaders from Arizona to Texas and Maryland.
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this month urging the department to change course on plans to build a new prison warehouse in Byhalia, Mississippi.
“This site is currently positioned for economic development purposes,” Wicker wrote, while emphasizing his support for immigration law enforcement. “Converting this industrial asset into an ICE detention center eliminates opportunities for economic growth and replaces them with a use that does not provide comparable economic returns or community benefits.”
ICE said the new network will increase bed capacity by 92,600 and is expected to be fully implemented by November, according to the documents. The overhaul would be funded through congressional appropriations under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the document.
Currently, ICE relies on state, county and local jails, as well as privately operated facilities, to keep people in immigration detention. As of February, nearly 70,000 immigrants were detained across the country.
Over the past year, the administration has sought to expand detention capacity through the use of large tent facilities, including a state-run site in the Florida Everglades and a $1.3 billion tent complex at a West Texas military base that has become the nation’s largest immigrant detention center. Both facilities have come under scrutiny, including allegations of inhumane conditions.
In the latest plan, officials say a move toward larger, purpose-built sites will allow ICE to consolidate its footprint and reduce reliance on smaller, short-term contracts.
ICE spent a month stepping up its arrest efforts, signing cooperative agreements to give local police and sheriffs the authority to detain immigrants and launching large-scale enforcement in Democratic-run cities across the country.
The administration deployed nearly 3,000 immigration agents, including Customs and Border Protection tactical officers and Border Patrol agents, to Minnesota for what it dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” Tensions have risen as local opposition to the increase has grown, and federal agents have been repeatedly accused of using excessive force against suspected unauthorized immigrants and protesters. Two US citizens were shot and killed during a shootout with agents.
This week, Trump border czar Tom Homan announced an end to surge operations in Minnesota. Agents arrested more than 4,000 people during the two-month operation.
Despite the increase in arrests, the administration fell far short of its goal of 1 million arrests and deportations. Since the beginning of October, the start of the government’s fiscal year, ICE has deported nearly 162,000 people.
