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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to boost migrant detention capacity to 92,600 beds as part of a nationwide deportation push, according to an internal agency memo.
The memo, dated Feb. 13, 2026, lays out a sweeping overhaul designed to support what ICE describes as the ability to “effectuate mass deportations,” including eight mega-centers capable of housing up to 10,000 detainees each and slated to be fully operational by Nov. 30, 2026. The memo states that the initiative will be funded through congressional allocations under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Beyond the mega-centers, the plan calls for 16 regional processing sites built to hold between 1,000 and 1,500 detainees for short stays of three to seven days, as well as the acquisition of 10 existing “turnkey” facilities where ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations already operates. The new model aims to consolidate existing contracts while centralizing detention operations nationwide.
NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS
An aerial view shows a warehouse in Social Circle, Georgia, that was recently purchased by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for potential use as a detention facility, according to reporting. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
The document states that ICE has added 12,000 new law enforcement officers through a surge hiring effort and says expanded detention space will be a necessary downstream requirement to sustain an anticipated spike in enforcement operations and arrests in 2026.
The memo describes the network as ICE’s “long-term detention solution,” emphasizing standardized facility design and scalable infrastructure built to handle both immediate surge capacity and sustained operations.
The newly released document comes as ICE has quietly purchased at least seven warehouses — some exceeding 1 million square feet in recent weeks across Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas, according to The Associated Press.
CONGRESS UNVEILS $1.2T SPENDING BILL AS PROGRESSIVE REVOLT BREWS OVER ICE FUNDING
Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Proposed warehouse purchases in six other cities fell through after sellers declined to move forward under pressure from activists, according to the report. Additional deals, including in New York, are reportedly nearing completion.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said this week that there are about 1.6 million illegal aliens in the U.S. with final deportation orders, roughly half of whom have criminal convictions.
During testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, Lyons said, “What we’re tracking right now is about 1.6 million final [deportation] orders in the United States, with approximately 800,000 of those having criminal convictions.”
A man is detained by federal agents during raids in Colony Ridge, Texas, in February 2025. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
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Lyons clarified that those deportation orders were issued “through an immigration judge with the Department of Justice separate from Immigration Customs Enforcement,” not by ICE or the Department of Homeland Security.
He added that there are “16,840 final orders at large in the state of Minnesota,” a state that has become a flash point for resistance to immigration enforcement.
Border czar Tom Homan announced a temporary drawdown of enforcement resources this week, citing the need to recalibrate operations as ICE scales arrests and detention capacity nationwide.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
