US Reveals $38 Billion Plan to Transform How It Detains Migrants

Alicia A. Caldwell

Sat, February 14, 2026 at 4:52 AM GMT+9 3 min read

Photographer: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) – The Trump administration is moving ahead with a $38.3 billion plan to remake the US immigration detention system, in a sweeping expansion that officials say will streamline operations and speed deportations.

The plan, known as the Detention Reengineering Initiative, calls for acquiring and renovating eight large-scale detention centers, adding 16 processing sites and taking control of 10 existing “turnkey” facilities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement already operates. The largest facilities will have the capacity to hold as many as 10,000 people, primarily for international removals.

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“This new model will allow ICE to create an efficient detention network by reducing the total number of contracted detention facilities in use while increasing total bed capacity, enhancing custody management, and streamlining removal operations,” according to documents published on the New Hampshire government’s website.

The Washington Post reported earlier on the plans.

As part of its broader detention overhaul since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, the administration has begun purchasing warehouse buildings across the country with plans to convert them into immigration detention centers. The purchases have drawn concerns from local communities and political leaders from Arizona to Texas and Maryland.

US Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, sent a letter earlier this month to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urging the department to change course on plans to build a new jail warehouse in Byhalia, Mississippi.

“This site is currently positioned for economic development purposes,” Wicker wrote even as he emphasized his support for enforcing immigration law. “Converting this industrial asset into an ICE detention center forecloses economic growth opportunities and replaces them with a use that does not generate comparable economic returns or community benefits.”

According to the documents, ICE said the new network will increase bed capacity by 92,600 and is expected to be fully implemented by November. The overhaul would be funded through congressional allocations under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the document.

Currently, ICE relies on a patchwork of state, county and local jails, along with privately operated facilities, to hold people in immigration custody. As of February, nearly 70,000 migrants were detained nationwide.

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Last year, the administration 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 on a West Texas military base that has become the nation’s largest immigration detention center. Both facilities have drawn scrutiny, including allegations of inhumane conditions.

In the latest plan, officials say shifting toward larger, purpose-built sites will allow ICE to consolidate its footprint and reduce reliance on smaller, short-term contracts.

ICE has spent month ramping up arrest efforts, signing cooperation agreements to grant immigration arrest authority to local police and sheriffs and launching large-scale enforcement surges in Democratic-run cities around the country.

The administration deployed about 3,000 immigration agents, including Customs and Border Protection tactical officers and Border Patrol agents, to Minnesota for what it dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.” As local opposition to the surge mounted, tensions rose and federal agents were repeatedly accused of using excessive force against suspected unauthorized immigrants and protesters. Two US citizens were shot and killed in confrontations with agents.

This week, Trump border czar Tom Homan announced an end to the Minnesota surge operations. Agents made more than 4,000 arrests during the two-month operation.

Despite an increase in arrests, the administration has remained 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 about 162,000 people.

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