❓WHAT HAPPENED: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has signed a $29.9 million contract for the design of new mega detention centers using vacant warehouse spaces.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: ICE and KPB Services LLC, with federal contractor Mill Creek associated with the contract.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The contract was signed on Friday, with plans for facilities throughout the United States.
🎯IMPACT: The expansion could double ICE’s detention capacity to 100,000 detainees by year’s end.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appears set to advance its plans to purchase vacant warehouses to establish large-scale detention centers as it looks to continue ramping up illegal immigrant detention and deportation efforts. The agency recently finalized a $29.9 million contract for the conceptual design of these mega processing and detention facilities across the United States.
The move is part of an initial phase toward converting warehouse spaces into detention centers for illegal immigrants, according to procurement records. These new centers could potentially be more than twice the size of ICE’s current average detention facilities.
ICE operates a network of hundreds of detention centers nationwide, housing approximately 65,000 migrants. The agency aims to expand its capacity to 100,000 detainees by the end of the year, utilizing a significant budget increase provided by President Donald J. Trump‘s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The contract for designing the mega centers was awarded to KPB Services LLC. The address linked to the contract is associated with Mill Creek, a federal contractor known for its work with the Department of War.
Mega-warehouses, similar to those used by online retail giant Amazon, are the primary interest for ICE. The surge in inflation and prices under former President Joe Biden has left a number of large warehousing facilities vacant, a number of which are drawing interest from the agency.
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