The Trump administration is funneling $10 billion from the Department of Homeland Security through the U.S. Navy to ramp up its construction of migrant detention centers across the country, according to a report.
Construction on the facilities, which could hold up to 10,000 migrants each, could begin as soon as next month, sources close to the project told CNN.
The DHS is leaning on the Navy to hire companies for the construction and maintenance of the detention facilities, which will reportedly be spread across Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania.
The construction plans are the latest example of how the Trump administration is wielding the power of the U.S. military to carry out its anti-immigration agenda.
The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the Navy for comment.
Publicly available documents from July show that contractors with the Navy “may be required to provide infrastructure, staffing, services, and/or supplies necessary to provide safe and secure confinement for aliens in the administrative custody” of DHS and ICE.
Homeland Security officials have reportedly been trying to quickly secure contracts to build more detention facilities due to the uptick in immigration arrests.
It was not immediately clear whether the new facilities would be built on existing Navy installations.
CNN reports that the new facilities are likely to be “soft-sided tents,” similar to the ones at the complex at the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas, which became operational in August.
Migrants being held at at the complex were recently subject to numerous violations of federal standards, including medical neglect, poor access to legal counsel, and dysfunctional plumbing, according to detainees and federal inspectors.
Experts told CNN that it was not surprising the Trump administration was working with the military to quickly turn around the construction project.
“The military is good at logistics, and they’ve had to do quick turn construction projects like this overseas,” said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute specializing in defense spending. “You’re already dealing with an organization that knows how to do this type of contracting activity, and do it quickly.”
Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful, Bill” in July set aside an unprecedented $45 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to boost immigration detention.
Federal contracts from ICE have been steadily increasing since Trump’s first term, according to the federal spending database, rising from $137.5 million awarded in 2016 to $463.4 million in 2025 so far.
Official data published at the end of September reported that there are currently 59,762 people being held in ICE detention centers.
ICE is planning to more than double detention capacity to more than 107,000 by January 2026, according to The Washington Post.
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