Future Trump administration plans to build new immigration detention facilities close to key American cities
As part of President-elect Donald Trump's promised mass deportation plan, the incoming Trump administration is looking at potential locations and speaking with private prison companies about…
As part of President-elect Donald Trump's promised mass deportation plan, the incoming Trump administration is looking at potential locations and speaking with private prison companies about significantly expanding immigrant detention facilities that would house immigrants before they are deported, two sources familiar with the planning told NBC News.In order to house large numbers of migrants for brief periods of time as they await deportation following their arrests within the United States, the objective is to double the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention beds, of which 41,000 are now allotted by Congress, according to the sources. According to the sources, the plan would also reintroduce family detention, a practice that has drawn criticism from immigration advocates and was discontinued by the Biden administration in 2021. In order to determine which areas might require temporary facilities to detain migrants as part of the deportation effort, the Trump transition team is currently evaluating which of the facilities that the Biden administration closed could be reopened, taking into account the space available in county jails.The number of migrants that each region can accommodate, especially in Democratic-controlled major centers nationwide, is being examined by Trump's transition team. Instead of targeting Democratic strongholds, the plans give priority to communities with sizable migrant populations that lack prison facilities, according to a source familiar with the proposals.Additional detention facilities may need to be constructed close by in order to house migrants who are apprehended in cities with high migrant populations, such as Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago. According to the source, the administration may also need to reopen, enlarge, or construct new facilities in the Northeast to house migrants who have been apprehended in the areas of New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington.So-called sanctuary rules in Democratic communities shouldn't stop ICE from increasing incarceration there, according to a second person aware of the plans. The plan's specifics provide insight into the "largest deportation operation in American history," as Trump has claimed. The plan's detractors claim he won't have the funding, personnel, flights, jail space, or the willingness of nations to repatriate migrants to make it a reality.
