U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is stepping up construction of tent camps for migrants across the country after receiving $45 billion in new funding, with the goal of expanding detention capacity from 40,000 beds to 100,000 beds by the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
According to Reuters, the report cites documents seen by The Wall Street Journal, adding that the agency is prioritizing the construction of large tent facilities at military bases and ICE prisons, including a 5,000-bed camp at Fort Bliss, Texas, and other camps in Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey.
Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials, including U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, reportedly said they prefer detention centers run by Republican-controlled state and local governments rather than private prison companies.
The White House and ICE have not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment.
Noem said last week that she was in talks with five Republican-led states about building other detention facilities modeled after Florida’s Alcatraz facility.
“Several other states are actually looking at Alcatraz as a model for how they can work with us,” Noem said at a news conference in Florida. She did not identify the states.
