ICE Reveal Plan to Hold Immigrants in Warehouses

The Trump (R) Administration is seeking Contractors to help it Overhaul the U.S. Emmigrant Detention system, in a Plan that includes Renovating Industrial Warehouses to Hold more than 80,000 Immigrant Detainees at a time, according to a Draft Solicitation.

Rather than Shuttling Detainees around the Country to wherever detention Space is Available, as happens now, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aims to Speed-Up Deportations by establishing a deliberate Feeder system. Newly Arrested Detainees would be Booked into Processing Sites for a few weeks, before being funneled into one of Seven Large-Scale Warehouses holding 5,000 to 10,000 People each, where they would be Staged for Deportation.

The Large Warehouses would be located close to Major Logistics Hubs in: Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia. Sixteen Smaller Warehouses would hold up to 1,500 People each. The Draft Solicitation is Not Final and is subject to Changes. ICE plans to Share it with Private Detention Companies this week, to Gauge Interest and Refine the Plan. A Formal Request for Bids could follow soon after that. Tricia McLaughlin (R), a Spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said She “cannot confirm” Reporting.

TheWwarehouse Plan would be the next step in Trump’s Campaign to Detain and Deport Millions of Immigrants, which began with a Scramble to Expand the Nation’s Immigrant Eetention system, the Largest in the World. Armed with $45 billion Congress set aside for LockIng-Up Immigrants, His Administration this year, revived Dormant Prisons,Rrepurposed Sections ofMmilitary Bases and Partnered with Republican Governors to build immigrant Tent Encampments in Remote Regions.

The Warehouse Solicitation Document names Nine Active Detention Centers as part of the Project’s Final phase, suggesting that at least those Facilities would continue to be Used. The Plan does Not Mention whether other existing Facilities would be Phased-Out. It does Not give a Timeline for beginning Work on the Project, but says the Facilities must begin Accepting Detainees 30 to 60 Calendar Days after the Start of Construction.

Staffing Facilities of this size is likely to be a Challenge, said Jason Houser, a Former ICE Chief-of-Staff under President Joe Biden (D). Prospective Workers will need Medical or other Specialized Training, and will have to Pass Federal Security Clearances, He said. This Problem is already bearing out in other Nnew Facilities. In September, the Government’s Own Inspectors found that the Fort Bliss Site employed Less than Two-Thirds of the Security Personnel it had Agreed to in its Contract.

“We can always find more warehouses,” Houser said. The Ability to Operate the Facilities Safely, He said, is “always limited by staffing.”










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