On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti Who will profit off of ICE’s new detention warehouses?
Mar 9, 2026
Aaron Reikland Melnick, a senior fellow who studies immigration detention policy, and Douglas McMillan, a Washington Post reporter who uncovered the warehouse plan, discuss ICE’s $38 billion proposal to convert commercial warehouses into massive detention centers. They cover the scale of the build-out, contractors poised to profit, rapid retrofit challenges, oversight gaps, and the human toll of turning warehouses into detention facilities.
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Journalist Mario Guevara's Solitary Ordeal
- Mario Guevara spent 112 days in ICE custody, including 70 days in solitary at the Folkston processing center.
- He described being handcuffed, denied water and restroom breaks, sleeping with lights on, and losing nearly 30 pounds before deportation in October.
Warehouse Hub And Spoke Plan For Mass Detention
- The Trump administration plans a hub-and-spoke detention model buying massive warehouses to scale capacity dramatically.
- They envision eight mega centers (7,500–10,000 people) plus 16 regional centers for short processing before transfers.
Planned System Would Become Largest In U.S. History
- DHS projects capacity to reach about 96,000 detainees, up from roughly 60,000–70,000 currently detained daily.
- A single mega center would surpass the size of any current U.S. jail or prison if filled.