ICE documents reveal plan to double immigrant detention space this year
When President Donald Trump took office this year, the United States already commanded the largest immigrant detention system in the world, with the capacity to hold close to 50,000 migrants. Right away, his administration set a goal of doubling it.
An internal planning road map obtained by The Washington Post shows for the first time exactly how immigration authorities plan to reach that goal, including by opening or expanding 125 facilities this year. By January, ICE will have the capacity to hold more than 107,000 people, internal agency documents show.
The documents outline the strategy behind ICE’s breakneck expansion, a chaotic effort that has already triggered lawsuits and accusations of cruelty. The agency has repurposed sections of military bases and revived dormant prisons, partnering with private prison contractors, local sheriffs and Republican governors to house its record number of detainees.
The road map, last updated July 30, shows that ICE intends to expand immigrant detention to new parts of the country, nearly doubling its number of large-scale, mega-detention centers and relying increasingly on makeshift “soft-sided” structures that can be built in a few weeks and taken down just as easily. The government is also planning to dramatically expand its capacity for detaining parents and children in what could amount to the nation’s largest family detention program in decades.
The plans are still in flux, and some of the contracts are not finalized. The Post reviewed an earlier version of the road map that showed 12 fewer contracts but few other changes.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/08/15/ice-documents-reveal-plan-double-immigrant-detention-space-this-year/
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