New documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) indicate that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is evaluating proposals to increase immigration detention capacity in several states, including California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington. These records were released following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by the ACLU in September 2024. They reveal that private prison corporations and other service providers have submitted proposals for expanded detention facilities in response to ICE's contract requests.
Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, commented on the situation: “You cannot have mass deportations without a significant expansion of ICE detention capacity in states across the country and that’s exactly what the incoming Trump administration is preparing to do.” She added that instead of closing down abusive facilities, "the Biden administration is paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump to make good on his cruel and inhumane mass deportation proposals.”
The FOIA documents disclose that GEO Group, Inc., CoreCivic, and Management & Training Corporation (MTC) submitted contract proposals to expand detention facilities. These include locations with histories of abuse:
- Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, KS
- South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX
- Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, NV
- Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, NM
- Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, NM
- California City Correctional Center in California City, CA
Some documents were withheld by ICE but suggest consideration of additional facilities such as:
- Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, NM
- Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, WA
- Golden State Annex in McFarland, CA
- Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, CA
Other entities like Kastel Enterprises LLC and Active Deployment Systems also responded to ICE's request for building temporary facilities.
The ACLU highlights that the federal immigration detention system relies heavily on private prison corporations such as GEO Group and CoreCivic. Over two decades these corporations have benefited financially from ICE contracts.
The FOIA records can be accessed here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/multi-state-detention-facility-support-fo...
