The Trump administration plans to spend more than $38 billion to buy and convert warehouses into detention centers for illegal aliens, according to documents provided to New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and published on the state’s website on Feb. 12.
One document reveals that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under its Detention Reengineering Initiative (DRI), plans to acquire and renovate eight large-scale detention centers, 16 processing sites, and 10 existing “turnkey” facilities where ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) already operate.
The initiative seeks to create a new detention facility model and retrofit the buildings into processing and detention facilities “exclusively for ICE” to hold tens of thousands of illegal immigrants and activate all of them by Nov. 30.
The eight large-scale regional processing centers will be designed to hold 7,000 to 10,000 detainees at a time for less than 60 days.
They will serve as “primary locations” for international removals.
The 16 regional processing centers will house an average population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees for average stays of three to seven days and serve as staging locations for transfers or removals, according to ICE.
“For ICE to sustain the anticipated increase in enforcement operations and arrests in 2026, an increase in detention capacity will be a necessary downstream requirement,” according to the document.
“The new model is designed to strategically increase bed capacity to 92,600 beds.”
It notes that ICE has recently hired more than 12,000 new law enforcement officers.
“These facilities will ensure the safe and humane civil detention of aliens in ICE custody, while helping ICE effectuate mass deportations,” the document states.
“This model will incorporate all existing detention standards and will maximize operational efficiency, minimize costs, shorten processing times, and promote the safety, dignity, and respect of all aliens in ICE custody.”
The detention centers will meet all health and safety regulations and provide basic needs such as food, clothing, hygiene products, bedding, recreation, and coordinate with ICE Health Services Corps to ensure detainees receive medical, dental, mental health care, and emergency services, according to ICE.
Detainees will also be given access to visitation spaces, law libraries, and necessary resources, as well as religious spaces in compliance with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
ICE will also support their communication needs, such as scheduled phone calls and mail services.
These sites will also include lobbies, recreational spaces, dormitories, courtroom spaces, intake and processing zones, cafeterias, as well as amenities for ICE and contractor staff, such as office spaces and exercise facilities, according to ICE.
A second document lays out plans, costs, and benefits such as job creation for a proposed ICE processing facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
DHS estimates retrofitting an existing building in Merrimack will cost $158 million to renovate and another $146 million to operate the facility for the first three years and expects the new processing site to support a total of 1,252 jobs during renovations and up to 265 jobs each year of operation.
