Trump's Administration Labelled 'Cruel' as ICE Prepares to House 80,000 Immigrants in Warehouses

Trump's immigration enforcement strategy has reached a controversial inflection point as internal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) documents outline plans to detain up to 80,000 immigrants in converted industrial warehouses across the United States. The proposal has ignited legal, political and human-rights debates over the treatment and dignity of migrants held pending deportation proceedings. Those internal drafts show an immigration system under strain, seeking to expand capacity far beyond existing facilities to handle record-high detention numbers.

ICE Detention Figures Reach Unprecedented Levels

ICE's own detention data, published in biweekly detention spreadsheets, show that the number of people held in immigration detention in late 2025 has climbed far above levels seen in previous years. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which republishes ICE's official detention population counts derived from FOIA disclosures and government datasets, reports that 65,735 people were in ICE custody as of Nov. 30, 2025, with 73.6 % of them having no criminal conviction.

Separate ICE detention statistics obtained from ICE's detention management portal, including spreadsheet releases through mid-December 2025, show updated totals with counts through Dec. 16, 2025. These spreadsheets, maintained by ICE's Detention Management Division and published as official custody data, indicate detention levels near or above historic peaks for the current reporting period.

Taken together, these point-in-time datasets show ICE's detention population climbing steeply over 2025, far exceeding Congress's authorised average daily detention bed level of 41,500. In practice, this means ICE has held tens of thousands more people than its baseline contractual detention capacity during large parts of 2025, prompting planning for additional space.

The Proposed Warehouse Detention System

According to document drafts circulated among federal acquisition and detention officials, ICE is developing a 'feeder system' that would use converted warehouses for mass intake, staging and holding of detainees before transfer to removal flights or smaller processing facilities.

These plans, reviewed by lawmakers and obtained through document disclosures, suggest designs for seven mega-facilities, each capable of holding between 5,000 and 10,000 detainees, sixteen smaller facilities holding up to 1,500 people each, and processing centres where newly detained individuals would be initially held before transfer.

The warehouse approach represents a departure from the traditional decentralised detention network, which relies on scores of jails, prisons, county facilities and dedicated ICE centres. It would concentrate detainees in large-scale spaces that would be retrofitted for human accommodation.

ICE procurement language included in solicitation drafts repeatedly emphasises logistical goals: 'maximise efficiency, minimise costs, shorten processing times, limit length of stay, accelerate the removal process'. Department of Homeland Security spokespersons have not formally confirmed the existence of the final plan, saying elements remain under review.

Legal and Policy Context: Detention Growth

ICE detention growth has been documented in primary data throughout 2025. According to TRAC's FOIA-derived data portal, 51,302 people were detained nationwide as of June 1, 2025, the first time ICE's total exceeded 50,000 since 2019. This dataset is drawn from ICE's own detention population figures, which TRAC publishes as part of its 'Detention Quick Facts' tool using ICE source data.

That same dataset shows the proportion of detainees without criminal convictions rising substantially, a trend that underscores policy shifts within the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division.

Congress authorised ICE custody operations for an average of 34,000 detention beds in the FY 2025 budget submission, with actual utilisation often exceeding those figures significantly.

ICE's detention network consists of facilities operated by multiple entities, including for-profit contractors and local jurisdictions under contract with ICE. TRAC's facility inventory shows a growing number of locations reporting detainee populations in 2025 compared with previous years, though many operate well beyond their original design capacity.

Reopened and repurposed facilities, including family residential centres and former prison sites, have been part of the overall expansion strategy under current enforcement priorities.