As Part of a $45 Billion Push, ICE Prepares for a Vast Expansion of Detention Space

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Bloomberg

5h


(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is tapping tent companies, private prison operators and disaster-relief providers to compete for some of the $45 billion earmarked for a massive expansion of immigration detention space.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month identified 41 companies that can bid for business under the administration’s detention rollout. It’s part of an “emergency acquisition” process meant to expedite future contracts. At least nine of the companies advertise so-called soft-sided facilities on their website or have operated such sites in the past, a sign the administration may be planning to increase its use of temporary structures for immigration detention or staging.

The list of recipients includes many of ICE’s biggest contractors, including The GEO Group Inc. and CoreCivic Inc., two private prison companies that have tens of thousands of beds they’re eager to fill. But roughly half of the companies have had no direct contracting history with the agency over the past 25 years, highlighting how Trump’s immigration crackdown is creating a cottage industry of contractors eager to get their piece of a multibillion-dollar pie.

The move comes as ICE facilities across the country are at or over capacity because the administration has dramatically increased immigration arrests in the nation’s interior. To meet a 3,000 arrest per day quota set by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, immigration officials are targeting groups that they haven’t typically pursued, including high school students, farmworkers and people attending court hearings. The aggressive ramp-up has led to nationwide protests against ICE.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/as-part-of-a-45-billion-push-ice-prepares-for-a-vast-expansion-of-detention-space/ar-AA1GE9NI