The request for proposals for new detention facilities and other services will allow the government to expedite the contracting process and quickly expand detention capacity.
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CoreCivic has signed a five-year, $246 million contract to reopen the Dilley, Texas, family detention center, which opened in 2015. The company is one of several private detention facility operators that have already signed new contracts since President Trump took office.
The Trump administration intends to spend tens of billions of dollars to create a mechanism to expand immigrant detention on a scale never seen before in the United States, according to a request for proposals the administration posted online last week.
The request, from the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calls on contractors to submit proposals to provide up to $45 billion in new detention facilities, transportation, security guards, medical support and other administrative services over the next two years.
ICE doesn’t have that kind of money yet. But if it were funded, the maximum cost would represent a more than sixfold increase in the cost of immigration detention. It’s the latest sign that President Trump and his administration are laying the groundwork for quickly fulfilling their promise of a massive campaign to rid the country of illegal immigrants.
The broad solicitation for contractors was released last week with a deadline of Monday. Last fiscal year, DHS allocated about $3.4 billion for the entire ICE-run custody operation.
ICE is already expecting a big payday from the GOP budget plan that Senate Republicans approved Saturday. The measure would significantly increase spending on the administration’s immigration program — up to $175 billion over the next 10 years for committees that oversee immigration enforcement, among other things. A $45 billion request for contractors would make ICE more willing to spend those funds.
The request also calls for the Defense Department to use its own funds to detain immigrants under the same plan.
Number of immigrants in detention
50,000
47,900
40,000
Funded
detention beds
30,000
20,000
Total number of detainees
10,000
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
50,000
47,900
40,000
Funded places of detention
30,000
20,000
Total number of detainees
10,000
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Note: Detention totals are as of March 23 and have been rounded. Congressionally funded detention capacity totals are for fiscal year 2024.
Sources: Department of Homeland Security; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse
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