In a note entitled "Detention Reorganization Project", ICE presents "a new model" based in particular on "the acquisition and renovation of eight large detention centers and sixteen processing sites".

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend nearly $40 billion to acquire and convert more than 20 existing buildings into migrant detention centers, according to administrative documents released by a US governor.

In a memo titled "Detention Reorganization Project," bearing the seal of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE presents "a new model" based in particular on "the acquisition and renovation of eight large detention centers and sixteen processing facilities." The former are designed for 7,000 to 10,000 people, the latter for 1,000 to 1,500 people, according to the document released Thursday by Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.

In what ICE calls "regional processing centers," migrants would stay on average between three and seven days. In the mega-centers, the average stay is sixty days, before deportation. The text also mentions "the acquisition of ten ready-to-use facilities" where ICE "already operates."

Target: 92,600 beds available

The estimated total cost of the new model is $38.3 billion. It aims to increase the number of available beds to 92,600. ICE sets a deadline of November 30, 2026, for all sites to be operational.

One of the structures identified by ICE is illustrated in the document: it is a vast building of approximately 30,000 m2 located not far from Boston (northeast), in Merrimack, New Hampshire, in which it plans to install "400 to 600" beds.

Donald Trump made the fight against immigration one of the priorities of his second term. Since his return to the White House a little over a year ago, the number of migrants in detention centers has jumped from fewer than 40,000 to more than 70,000 at its peak in January 2026. ICE's staff has more than doubled, climbing from 10,000 to 22,000 in a few months, and its allocated budget has exploded.

"Expected increase in operations and arrests"

In Los Angeles, Chicago, and most recently Minneapolis, among other places, ICE has conducted massive operations mobilizing thousands of police officers - often masked - with aggressive methods that have sparked outrage across the country, particularly when two Americans were shot dead by federal agents on the sidelines of two interventions in Minnesota's largest city.

The document suggests that this offensive, initiated by Donald Trump, is likely to accelerate further, as it mentions "an expected increase in police operations and arrests in 2026." "This effort aims to meet the growing demand for beds, to streamline the detention and deportation process, by utilizing non-traditional facilities," explains the immigration police.

The challenge for ICE is to "maximize operational efficiency, minimize costs, shorten processing times, and promote the safety, dignity and respect of all foreigners placed in detention," it emphasizes, while human rights defenders and NGOs have regularly denounced inhumane detention conditions.