Overview
- An internal ICE memo dated Feb. 13 outlines eight mega-centers holding 7,000 to 10,000 people for roughly 60 days and 16 regional processing hubs for 1,000 to 1,500 people for three to seven days, with full operations targeted for Nov. 30, 2026.
- ICE has purchased at least seven to eight large warehouses in states including Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Michigan, while proposed deals in places such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Virginia fell through after local pushback.
- A spreadsheet lists an Orlando warehouse at 8660 Transport Drive as a potential 1,500-bed processing site with an estimated $99 million price, though no sale has been confirmed.
- Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told Congress there are about 1.6 million people with final deportation orders, including roughly 800,000 with criminal convictions, framing the scale of planned detention expansion.
- DHS documents assert that reviewed sites meet fire, water, wastewater and power needs and promise safe civil detention, as lawmakers, city officials and advocates challenge the plan over facility conditions and community impacts.