海角大神

ICE wants to expand detention. Here鈥檚 why it needs more beds.

With some 68,000 immigrants in detention 鈥� as of February 鈥� and a goal of making space for up to 92,600 by this fall, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has roiled communities as it snaps up warehouses to hold those it hopes to deport.聽

After record-high illegal border crossings under the Biden聽administration, President Donald Trump ordered a whole-of-government crackdown on illegal immigration. His administration has also moved to end deportation protections for many immigrants lawfully here. Congress last year gave ICE a $45 billion check to expand detention and help fulfill Mr. Trump鈥檚 mass deportation goals, as arrests began to surge in the interior.聽

ICE says detention isn鈥檛 punitive, but ensures immigrants show up on their court dates and are already in hand when a judge orders deportation. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is broadly interpreting the reasons for mandatory detention and urging immigration judges to deny immigrants bond.聽

As ICE buys warehouses that the agency says would hold 1,000 to 10,000 beds each, some communities are pushing back. Towns where new ICE sites could crop up are grappling with infrastructure and humanitarian concerns.聽

Newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reviewing where things stood under his predecessor, so, last week, DHS said it had聽聽new warehouse purchases. Mr. Mullin said during his confirmation hearing that he wanted to work with communities where detention centers were proposed.聽

鈥淎s with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals,鈥� a Homeland Security spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Critics say the government uses harsh detention conditions to coerce 鈥渟elf-deportation,鈥� and they raise concerns about access to medical care and legal counsel. DHS has denied such claims. Meanwhile, 14 people have died in ICE custody so far this year, reports analyst Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University. (ICE did not respond to several questions sent by the Monitor.)

Why is ICE expanding its detention efforts?

The agency says it wants to 鈥渟treamline鈥� the deportation process and hold more people in fewer detention centers.聽

ICE sees detention as a way to guarantee deportations of those ordered to leave, as it鈥檚 easier to deport people from custody than to search for them. Despite the administration鈥檚 claims that it targets 鈥渢he worst of the worst,鈥� most ICE detainees have not been convicted of crimes. That said, civil immigration violations are enough to deport someone without a criminal history.

ICE has reportedly bought at least 11 warehouses around the country. Separately, ICE has also canceled 13 planned warehouse purchases, nearly all following local opposition, according to Project Salt Box, a website tracking the purchases through public records. The agency has said its goal is buying 24 鈥渘on-traditional facilities.鈥澛�

How have communities responded to new proposed detention sites?

Reactions have been mixed. After local backlash, warehouse purchases have slowed significantly in recent weeks, says Michael Wriston, a former intelligence analyst and head of Project Salt Box.聽

From New Hampshire to Mississippi, elected officials and residents have voiced alarm over the facilities鈥� potential impacts on local resources and their suitability for human habitation. They say the federal government hasn鈥檛 consulted with them. Still, states and localities generally have little power to stop the federal government from buying up properties.聽

In Social Circle, Georgia, a city of 5,000, ICE purchased a warehouse where it plans to hold at least 7,500 detainees with 2,000 staff members. Once operational, the site will exceed the city鈥檚 entire sewage capacity and overwhelm local emergency resources, says City Manager Eric Taylor.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 extremely worried,鈥� says Mr. Taylor, adding that he locked a water meter at the facility in February to prevent water from being turned on. 鈥淸DHS officials] don鈥檛 seem to have any plans for how they鈥檙e going to address [the facility鈥檚 impact].鈥澛�

Mr. Taylor says the only time he heard from Homeland Security regarding the warehouse was in mid-February, weeks after the $129 million purchase was made. During the meeting, he says, a federal official presented a sewage analysis that erroneously included an out-of-county treatment plant under Social Circle鈥檚 sewage system. Mr. Taylor says he has since reached out to DHS multiple times but hasn鈥檛 heard back.

In Bradford County, Florida, prisons are already a major source of employment, so county officials see a new ICE facility as a potential economic boost. County commissioners voted in January to refine a proposal to turn a vacant, county-owned warehouse into a facility holding at least 1,000 detainees for ICE. The facility would be run by Sabot Consulting, which the county sheriff says reached out to him with the proposal. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith says he 鈥渢otally supports鈥� the idea. In his county of roughly 30,000, the project would create hundreds of 鈥渓iving-wage jobs,鈥� he says, and bring infrastructure upgrades to the warehouse that the county can鈥檛 afford itself.聽

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 do something to bring more economic development to our community, we鈥檙e going to be in a real crisis,鈥� the sheriff says.

How long can ICE detain immigrants in these centers?

鈥淭he courts have said that you cannot detain people forever,鈥� says Kathleen Bush-Joseph, who until this month worked as a lawyer at the Migration Policy Institute. However, 鈥渟ometimes people can languish in detention for long periods of time.鈥澛�

In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that ICE can鈥檛 indefinitely detain people who have final deportation orders. That case said they shouldn鈥檛 be held for more than six months if it appeared unlikely they would be deported. By contrast, courts haven鈥檛 set detention limits for people still awaiting outcomes in their immigration cases.聽

How long people are in detention can depend on a variety of factors. For those with cases still in immigration court, choosing to fight on and appeal can extend their stay.

Detention is 鈥渢he cornerstone of the deportation process,鈥� says Scott Mechkowski, a former deputy field office director at ICE, but it costs money. 鈥淓very day that you鈥檙e in custody, you鈥檙e costing taxpayers X amount of money.鈥�

As much as immigrants want to get out of ICE detention, it鈥檚 not easy. They are not entitled to lawyers at the government鈥檚 expense. Still, immigrant detainees have been filing challenges to their detention in high numbers 鈥� on average, more than 200 a day, ProPublica reported in February.

Other logistical and even diplomatic barriers can block deportation and prolong detention. For example, some countries don鈥檛 cooperate in accepting their citizens.聽

Another wrinkle: Courts have both stymied and sped up federal attempts to bypass deportation roadblocks, with mixed rulings on plans such as third-country deportations.

What about children? How long can ICE detain them?

Whether a child is with a guardian matters. Under U.S. law, DHS generally can鈥檛 detain unaccompanied minors past 72 hours. By then, those children must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services. That agency housed on average 2,348 unaccompanied children in February.

Families, on the other hand, can be held in custody longer. Courts have interpreted a decades-old settlement agreement in a way that generally requires ICE to hold family groups including minors no longer than 20 days.聽

At the Dilley detention center in Texas, families with children have endured lockdowns, virus outbreaks, and worms in food, according to complaints. It is not clear yet whether any of the new facilities will hold families.

Over 900 children have been held beyond 20 days as of January, reports , citing data from court-appointed monitors.聽

The Trump administration, it seems, 鈥渋s not taking those rules very seriously,鈥� says Scott Shuchart, a former assistant director for regulatory affairs and policy at ICE. 鈥淚t does seem like they鈥檙e detaining people, family groups, longer term.鈥�

Editor's note: This story, originally published April 7, was updated on the same day of publication with comment from the Department of Homeland Security.