The Trump administration just found a creative way to spend $10 billion on detention centers while sidestepping those pesky federal procurement rules that slow things down. Theyre funneling the money through the Navy to build what they’re calling a sprawling network of migrant detention facilities across the country.
Construction on some of these facilities could start as soon as next month. Thats how fast they’re moving on this.
Heres how it works. DHS has been bouncing between different contracting mechanisms because normal federal competition rules keep slowing them down. So they decided to use the Navys Supply Systems Command as the contracting arm. The program is called WEXMAC 2.1, which stands for Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract – Territorial Integrity of the United States. Before July, this contracting vehicle was used primarily for military operations abroad. Now its being repurposed for domestic immigration enforcement.
The goal is to double ICEs detention capacity from 41,000 beds to 82,000. White House border czar Tom Homan wants it done fast. ICE already secured $45 billion from Congress in July to build new detention facilities. This new $10 billion is on top of that.
According to the contracting documents, these facilities will need to include courtrooms and administrative space for ICE staff. Theyll require ready access to emergency services and airport transfers. The contracts also specify that contractors will have no right of refusal and must take all ICE referrals.
The military angle is key here. Using Defense Support of Civil Authorities allows the administration to leverage military assets and personnel for domestic law enforcement missions. The Navy is apparently good at quick-turnaround construction projects since theyve done similar work overseas. Thats the official line anyway.
We already have a preview of what happens when you prioritize speed over standards. The Fort Bliss facility in Texas opened in August and within 50 days had racked up 60 violations of federal detention standards. ICEs own inspectors found the facility failed to properly monitor medical conditions, lacked basic safety procedures, and for weeks didn’t give detainees a way to contact lawyers or file complaints.
People were moved into the Fort Bliss facility while it was still an active construction site. Dust swirling, excavators running, contractors rushing to finish work. One detainee was held there for 24 days despite the contract stating facilities are meant to hold people for periods of approximately two weeks or less. The whole setup was thrown together in less than two months on what had been an empty patch of desert.
According to TRAC data, as of early September nearly 58,770 people were in ICE detention. About 71% of them have no criminal record. ICE has conducted roughly 1,280 removal flights and over 4,430 shuffle flights between detention facilities since January.
Fort Bliss is supposed to be the prototype for this new breed of large-scale holding facilities. It could eventually hold 5,000 people. The administration plans at least 10 of these soft-sided tent-like structures at military bases and existing detention sites.
Whats particularly telling is that ICE has been blocking oversight. Members of Congress have been denied access to visit these facilities. When Representative Veronica Escobar tried to visit Fort Bliss, she was told it wasn’t operational yet even though people were already being held there.
The Trump administration spent $1.2 billion just on the Fort Bliss tent camp. ICEs detention budget is now 62% larger than the entire federal prison system. Since October, 13 people have died in ICE custody – already surpassing last years total.
The pattern here is pretty straightforward. When you prioritize speed and scale over safety and oversight, people get hurt. When you funnel billions through contracting mechanisms designed for military operations abroad and apply them to domestic immigration enforcement, you’re essentially treating migrants like enemy combatants. When you deny congressional oversight and block inspections, you’re hiding something.
The Fort Bliss violations weren’t discovered by outside watchdogs. They were found by ICEs own detention oversight unit. If that’s what their own inspectors are finding at the first facility they built, imagine what’s going to happen as they rush to open dozens more.