The Trump administration is reportedly sending migrants to Hawaii as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) grapples with overcrowding at facilities across the country.
Concretely, Reason reported seeing an increase in Honolulu attorneys representing migrants reaching the state. Moreover, the Honolulu Federal Detention Center has seen an increase in detainees as detainees are being transferred across the country.
A pro bono immigration attorney told the outlet that she has a client who "was taken into custody in Florida and went to two detention centers there before he was transferred to Louisiana, Arizona and two facilities in California before finally coming to Hawaii," making it difficult to legally challenge the detention.
In the meantime, ICE is racing to build tent camps across the country after getting $45 billion in new funding from the Trump administration's "big, beautiful" tax cut and spending bill. The goal is increasing detention capacity from 40,000 to 100,000 beds by the end of the year.
The agency, The Wall Street Journal said, is prioritizing large-scale tent facilities at military bases and ICE jails, including in locations in Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey. "ICE is pursuing all available options to expand bedspace capacity," a senior official told Reuters.
The administration's aggressive push for immigration crackdown — with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller famously demanding 3,000 immigrant arrests per day — has strained ICE's existing budget. Last month the agency was reported to exceed its allocated funding by $1 billion.
Moreover, nearly $30 billion will be invested in hiring and training ICE agents and investigators, as well as updates to transportation and technology used by the agency.
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