Overview
- A draft solicitation reviewed by the Washington Post describes seven large warehouses near logistics hubs in Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Georgia, and Missouri, each holding 5,000 to 10,000 people, plus 16 smaller processing sites for up to 1,500 each.
- An internal email indicates ICE will share the draft with private detention companies this week to gauge interest, and a formal bid request could follow, while a DHS spokesperson said she could not confirm the plan.
- Documents cite prospective mega-sites including a 10,000‑bed facility in Stafford, Virginia, a 9,500‑bed site in Hutchins, Texas, and a 9,000‑bed center in Hammond, Louisiana.
- ICE custody reached roughly 67,000–68,000 this month, with about 48% of detainees lacking criminal convictions, and Acting Director Todd M. Lyons earlier likened streamlining removals to running operations “like Prime, but with human beings.”
- Experts and advocates warn warehouses are ill‑suited for human habitation and highlight staffing and infrastructure hurdles; records also show a $30 million design contract that drew backlash from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, which withdrew from the project.