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ICE Draft Plan Would Convert Warehouses to Detain 80,000 Migrants

The draft plan responds to record detention levels, drawing warnings over safety and humaneness.

Overview

  • A draft solicitation reviewed by news outlets outlines at least seven large warehouses holding 5,000 to 10,000 people each plus 16 smaller processing sites of up to 1,500.
  • The proposed facilities would be sited near major logistics hubs in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas and Virginia to create a centralized feeder system for processing and staging deportations.
  • ICE reports roughly 67,000 to 68,000 people in detention, with bed shortages prompting transfers across the country to available space.
  • Reporting describes a $30 million design contract tied to the proposal and notes the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation withdrew involvement after objections by tribal leadership.
  • Advocates and former officials warn warehouses are ill-suited for habitation and hard to staff, as ICE’s acting director previously framed the push as getting more businesslike, saying, “Like Prime, but with human beings.”