Newly obtained documents, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), shed light on the fact that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently evaluating proposals from private companies to enhance immigration detention facilities in six states. These states include California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington.
Several private companies, such as CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management & Training Corporation, have presented proposals for detention facilities. These facilities have the potential to accommodate anywhere from 6,650 to 12,000 detention beds across the country. It is worth noting that some of the proposed sites, like the Midwest Regional Reception Center in Kansas and the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico, have previously faced criticism for their unsafe or unsanitary conditions.
ICE made a request, as specified in the documents, stating that they were in need of an inventory of beds. These beds would primarily be for men, but also for women, and the request included both public and private entities. However, it is important to note that ICE did not have any immediate plans to sign contracts for these beds.
According to Eunice Cho, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, the incoming Trump administration is planning to expand ICE detention capacity in various states in order to carry out mass deportations. Cho criticizes the Biden administration for not permanently closing abusive detention facilities and claims that this paves the way for President-elect Donald Trump to implement his harsh and inhumane mass deportation policies.
Cho expressed his disappointment with the development, describing it as “tremendously disappointing.” He raised concerns about the potential impact on the safety of immigrants and their access to due process.
According to the ACLU, the recently released documents reveal that the proposals submitted for detaining immigrants or providing security and other services were exclusively from private, for-profit entities. Notably, the nation’s largest private prison companies, CoreCivic based in Tennessee and GEO Group based in Florida, were among the entities that submitted these proposals.
Both companies’ stocks experienced a significant increase in value shortly after President Trump appointed Thomas Homan as his “border czar”. This surge in stock prices was driven by investors’ anticipation of a surge in demand for detention services and the implementation of stricter immigration enforcement policies under the new administration.
The news confirms what was previously reported by The Guardian, stating that the Biden administration has been renewing contracts for private immigration detention centers and considering the possibility of expanding detention capacity. This raises concerns as it provides a potential infrastructure for Trump’s immigration plans, contradicting Biden’s earlier promise to put an end to the use of privately operated detention facilities.
The documents discovered by ACLU highlight several facilities that are being considered for expansion. One of these is the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, which stopped housing families in 2021 due to concerns about insufficient child care. Another facility is the California City Correctional Center, which was once a state prison. Additionally, the Nevada Southern Detention Center and Cibola County Correctional Center are also mentioned as potential expansion sites. Both of these facilities have been previously criticized for instances of medical neglect and abuse.
