ICE, Army to build nation's biggest immigrant jail
The U.S. Army has hired a contractor to build the nation's largest ICE detention center, the latest move by President Donald Trump to use the military to deliver his promised mass deportations.
Virginia-based Acquisition Logistics LLC will erect a temporary immigration detention center on Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, near the southern border, with 5,000 beds, under a $232 million contract, according to the Department of Defense.
It's likely the cost will rise. A similar tent city built to house unaccompanied migrant children on Fort Bliss in 2021 during the Biden administration ballooned within months to nearly $1 billion.
Acquisition Logistics has served as a private contractor to the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marines for more than a decade, according to federal procurement data.
The company's website was "down for maintenance" on July 23, and USA TODAY couldn't reach a company representative online or by phone.
Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally, and Congress recently appropriated $170 billion in new money to help him do it.
The nation's system of immigration detention centers is under strain, as arrests of undocumented immigrants have risen in recent months.
The White House touted its arrest record in a statement July 22: "Across the country, arrests of criminal illegal immigrants have soared as President Donald J. Trump makes good on his promise to rid our communities of these threats to public safety."
The latest ICE data showed there were nearly 57,000 people in immigration detention, up from fewer than 40,000 at the close of the Biden administration.
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