US immigration authorities plan to significantly increase the number of immigrants they can hold by the end of 2026, earmarking $38 billion for acquiring and renovating detention centers, according to newly released government documents.

The move would increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s bed capacity to 92,600 as it anticipates heightened “enforcement operations and arrests in 2026.”

The Trump administration is pressing a controversial campaign of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. It has been expanding bed capacity as it works toward a goal of housing 100,000 people in custody.

ICE will acquire and renovate eight “large-scale detention centers” and 16 “processing sites” by the end of the fiscal year, according to a document labeled “ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative.”

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The agency would also buy “10 existing ‘turnkey’ facilities where ICE… already operates,” it said, adding that it would use $38.3 billion in funds available from US President Donald Trump’s signature spending bill, passed last year.

There were about 40,000 people in ICE detention when Trump came into office, a number that has steadily ticked up amid reports of overcrowding at holding facilities.

The new documents were released Thursday by the governor of New Hampshire, whose state is slated to host one of the facilities.

The “large” detention centers would hold between 7,000 and 10,000 people, with the smaller processing sites holding between 1,000 and 1,500, the document said.

AFP has previously reported on allegations of medical neglect, unsanitary food and harsh conditions at an ICE holding facility in Texas.

ICE plans for the new facilities to be operational by November 30.

The plans emerged amid a standoff in Congress over its funding of the department that oversees ICE, which was set to trigger a partial government shutdown beginning Saturday.

AFP