The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to purchase storage facilities and convert them into temporary detention centers for illegal migrants, according to reports released on February 5.
These new centers are designed to accommodate large numbers of detainees, with some capable of holding up to 8,000 individuals at a time—significantly larger than the largest federal prison in the United States, which holds approximately 4,000 prisoners.
The Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 20 potential sites for such facilities, with at least three already selected. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has spent about $70 million on one of these locations.
Additionally, on February 4, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to expand the migration ban program to five additional cities. This expansion follows recent additions of countries from Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia to the list. The program requires local administrative consent for implementation and warns that activist resistance could impede progress.
