The number of migrants held in federal detention centers has increased by 50 percent since President Donald Trump took office in January, Axios reported Saturday.
According to government data, a record 60,000 individuals are now in long-term detention facilities, up from about 39,000 at the end of the Biden administration. That total does not include detainees at recently opened or expanded sites such as “Alligator Alcatraz,” the controversial detention center in the Florida Everglades that has drawn criticism from many on the political left.
“It’s evident that the numbers being published by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] about people held in long-term residential facilities is severely undercounting the number of people who are in ICE custody at any given moment,” Amelia Dagen, a staff attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights told the outlet.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis remained defiant Friday after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility shut down over environmental concerns. The Florida site has also faced criticism from detainees who described poor conditions inside the facility.
In recent months, the Trump administration has accelerated efforts to expand detention capacity for migrants taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Indiana’s Camp Atterbury and New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst would be used to temporarily house migrants awaiting deportation. Camp Atterbury, a 34,000-acre installation operated by the Indiana National Guard, is located about 40 miles south of Indianapolis, Newsmax reported.
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, situated 18 miles south of Trenton, spans roughly 42,000 acres and hosts units from all branches of the U.S. military. Both locations are slated to operate as “soft-sided holding facilities,” using tent-like structures and fenced enclosures similar to those at Alligator Alcatraz.
In July, the administration awarded a $1.2 billion contract to a Virginia-based company to build what will become the nation’s largest migrant detention center at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. The new facility will be able to house 5,000 people, significantly expanding the federal government’s capacity as part of Trump’s crackdown on immigration violations.
