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Trump Admin Planning to Spend Over $38 Billion to Buy Warehouses and Convert Them into ICE Jails

HeadlineFeb 16, 2026

The Trump administration is planning to spend more than $38 billion to acquire warehouses across the U.S. in order to retrofit them into new ICE jails with capacity for tens of thousands of prisoners. Sixteen large buildings would be converted into regional processing centers, jailing more than 1,000 immigrants at a time, with a further eight large detention centers capable of holding 7,000 to 10,000 prisoners for an average of two months. That’s according to documents first revealed by The Washington Post. This comes as a Reuters review found hundreds of judges around the U.S. have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that President Trump’s administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully. Yet the administration has continued jailing people indefinitely, even after courts ruled the policy was illegal.

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