ICE is looking into 'mobile detention facilities'
Despite the failure of a warehouse-based detention project, ICE is quietly expanding its detention capacity through other means, including private prison contracts. The agency aims to maintain a high number of operational beds as part of a broader strategy to manage record-high arrest numbers.
Why it matters
The expansion of detention infrastructure raises ongoing humanitarian and fiscal questions regarding the management of immigration enforcement in the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to create "mobile detention facilities" for immigrant detainees in Pennsylvania, according to publicly available government documents. It's part of a massive detention expansion that began last year when the agency turned into the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency , with a $75 billion supplement from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act .
This shift in strategy comes after ICE started buying large warehouses nationwide to turn into mega detention centers .
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons described wanting squads of trucks rounding up immigrants and having the deportation process run like " [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings ."
The plans faced widespread pushback from communities near the warehouses and from immigration activists.
"I don't understand. What do we need this for?" Linda Powell, a resident of Williamsport, Md., told NPR in March.
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