We already knew Trump doesn’t care about immigrants. ICE’s new strategy for detention centers proves it is all about the money

The Trump administration is embarking on a $38 billion plan to convert industrial warehouses into large-scale immigrant holding centers free from outside scrutiny, and it’s discarding traditional partnerships for it. For decades, companies like Geo Group and CoreCivic were the government’s go-to partners for immigrant detention, running the majority of facilities for ICE.

Now, the administration is turning to relatively untested businesses to build and operate these new facilities. According to the Washington Post, the administration has awarded a contract worth at least $113.1 million to KVG LLC, a defense contractor, to build and operate a warehouse detention center in Williamsport, Maryland. 

According to USASpending.gov, this company has not been awarded any previous federal contracts for immigrant detention. Similarly, GardaWorld Federal Services, a security contractor, landed a deal of around $313.4 million to run a detention center planned at Surprise, Arizona. GardaWorld has never run a center, but they do employ guards at immigrant holding centers in Canada and at the infamous, expensive and rapidly closed “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in Florida. 

The old, experienced contractors were already struggling to handle the load

This move signals a significant industry shift that threatens the core business of Geo Group and CoreCivic, neither of which was mentioned in Friday’s awards. It seems the high expectations executives and investors had for these two companies after Trump’s reelection have soured in recent months, as the administration has actively courted start-ups and explored new ways to detain people en masse.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has set an incredibly tight timeline, stating that the first facility will begin accepting detainees by April. This gives some contractors just weeks to transform empty, uninhabitable buildings into secure holding facilities that include climate control, dormitories, recreational spaces, courtrooms, cafeterias, visitation rooms, and medical facilities. 

What’s even crazier is that they’ll have to work around what local leaders in many places have described as insurmountable infrastructure limitations, including access to basic necessities like water, sewer, and electricity. But, as far as ICE is concerned, why do immigrants even need those things?

The reasoning behind this massive shift is simple. The government intends to own the buildings rather than continue the practice of holding migrants at private facilities, where all aspects of detention are outsourced. 

This way, they will have more control over operations, and it will keep private companies from using their dominance over detention beds to push for favorable terms. In fact, DHS officials have reportedly demanded that Geo Group and CoreCivic reduce their prices for all existing detention contracts by 15 percent during private meetings in recent months. ICE also asked them to suggest changes to federal detention standards to save government spending. 

CoreCivic doesn’t see this as a threat, declaring that its “expertise has never been more essential.” They added that the idea of companies with no track record replicating their decades of operational experience “defies common sense.” However, DHS has clear goals: save money, no matter the cost to detainees, and “INCREASING detention capacity”.