ICE ‘Detention Reengineering’ Plan Will Expand Capacity, Speed Deportation of Criminal Aliens
An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo proposes a sweeping “detention reengineering” initiative aimed at addressing the system’s most chronic failures: overcrowded facilities, slow transfers and deportation delays that allow criminal aliens to repeatedly cycle through U.S. communities. The proposal, supported by front-line ICE staff and major law enforcement groups, would increase detention capacity, streamline processing and speed up removals of offenders who currently hang out in local jails for weeks or are released for lack of space.
The Feb. 13 memo, titled “For Official Use Only” and posted on the New Hampshire governor’s website, says the initiative is necessary to respond to President Donald Trump’s agency orders to increase mass evictions. The program provides for the creation of eight “megacenters” that can each accommodate up to 10,000 detainees. The $38.3 billion project is expected to be completed by the end of November.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has not publicly expressed her position on a proposed regional processing center at the proposed Merrimack facility, and her office has not issued any formal comments on whether she supports its construction.
ICE Director Todd Lyons told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week that there are about 1.6 million illegal aliens in the United States with final orders of removal issued by DOJ immigration judges. The director said half of them, or about 800,000, have been criminally convicted, Fox News reported. Lyons added that of the 1.6 million illegal aliens with final orders of deportation, nearly 17,000 are in the state of Minnesota.
The objective of this initiative is to expand detention capacity to 92,000 beds. Officials say that as ICE’s 12,000 new law enforcement agents come on the job, the number of people detained will increase. This will require a massive reengineering of the agency’s detention capabilities.
The memo states:
The objective of this contract is to obtain comprehensive services for the design, renovation and operation of permanent structures owned by ICE, transforming them into processing and detention facilities exclusively for ICE. These facilities will ensure the safe and humane civil detention of aliens in ICE custody, while also assisting ICE in carrying out mass deportations. The facilities will also incorporate a standardized layout and new features for both illegal alien detainees and ICE/contractor personnel who work at these sites. Facilities will be built to handle immediate surge capacity and long-term sustained operations, providing a unified, scalable solution that ensures continuity, security, compliance and control – built at scale and committed to supporting our mission.
The program includes plans to:
- Regional processing centers housing an average daily population of 1,000-1,500 inmates for average stays of 3-7 days. These will serve as staging areas for transfers or moves.
- Large-scale detention centers are capable of safely and humanely housing between 7,000 and 10,000 detainees for average periods of less than 60 days. These locations will serve as primary locations for international moves.
The new facilities will meet all “existing detention standards” and will increase efficiency and reduce detention costs, officials say.
ICE Guard. Key responsibilities include:
- Meet basic needs such as food, clothing, hygiene products, bedding and recreation.
- In coordination with ICE Health Services Corps., provide medical, dental, mental health, and emergency services.
- Facilitate legal access through visiting spaces, law libraries and necessary resources.
- Provide religious spaces in accordance with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
- Meet communications needs, including scheduled phone calls and mail services.
- The facilities will include a variety of program operations including: food services, security and detention, medical services, transportation services, inmate processing, legal services and records processing, custodial and laundry services, information technology services, and facilities management.
- These sites will also include lobbies, recreation areas, dormitories, courtrooms, reception and processing areas, cafeterias, and amenities for ICE and contractor personnel, such as offices and exercise facilities.
The authorities indicate that the expected length of stay of migrants in mega centers will be around 60 days. Smaller regional processing sites will detain illegal aliens for about a week.
One of the proposed the power centers will be located in Hutchins, Texas, according to THE Dallas Morning News.
Hutchins Mayor Mario Vasquez said he opposed the federal government’s purchase of the giant warehouse that sat empty for many months. “It doesn’t bring any benefit,” the mayor said.
The facility, located 10 miles south of Dallas, will be the largest ICE detention center in the United States and will house approximately 9,500 people. A second Texas-based facility is planned in the border city of El Paso. This establishment should accommodate around 8,500 illegal aliens. Smaller facilities in Texas include locations in San Antonio and Los Fresnos.
El Paso matters said the planned El Paso facility would be located on the city’s east side.. The facility will increase the region’s reception capacity to more than 13,000 illegal aliens. A 5,000-bed center opened at Fort Bliss in August.
The three-building Eastwind Logistics Center off Gateway Boulevard East in the town of Socorro, near Clint, has been identified as the likely location for a new ICE mega detention center in El Paso County. (Cindy Ramirez / El Paso Counts)
News4SA reported opposition from Bexar County and San Antonio politicians to the Alamo City facility.
“They’re not required to comply with city zoning regulations or anything like that, so again, the city has no authority to dictate what the property can or can’t be used for,” District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte told the local NBC affiliate.
San Antonio City Council District 3 Councilwoman Phylis Viagran added that San Antonio should not take on any additional responsibility for federal policies.
The sweeping detention reengineering plan is now moving from internal project to public flashpoint, with ICE racing to build the infrastructure needed to carry out the administration’s accelerated deportation program. As federal authorities establish megacenters and regional hubs designed to handle unprecedented levels of scrutiny, state and local leaders across the country are forced to confront the political, logistical, and community impacts of hosting these facilities.
Whether passed as a long-overdue modernization or resisted as an unwanted federal overprint, the initiative signals a dramatic expansion of America’s detention and deportation system — and the debate over where these centers belong is only just beginning.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border Associate Staff Writer and Senior News Contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He is also president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
