ICE Wants to Build a Shadow Deportation Network in Texas

"Early planning documents reviewed by WIRED describe a statewide transport grid designed for steady detainee transfers across Texas, with ICE estimating each trip to average 100 miles. Every county would have its own small, around-the-clock team of contractors collecting immigrants from local authorities deputized by ICE. It is a subtle transfer of the physical custody process into the hands of a private security firm-authorized to carry firearms and perform transport duties "in any and all local, county, state, and ICE locations.""

"The proposal emerges amid the Trump administration's renewed campaign to expand interior immigration enforcement. Over the past year, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has poured billions into detention contracts, reactivated cross-deputation agreements with local police, and directed ICE to scale up removals inside the US. The plan fits neatly into that strategy; a logistical framework for a system built to move detainees faster and farther, with fewer federal agents ever seen in public."

"The proposed system surfaced this week after ICE issued a market probe titled "Transportation Support for Texas." The listing includes draft operational requirements outlining staffing levels, vehicle readiness rates, and response times, along with detailed questions for vendors about cost structures, regional coverage, and command-and-control capabilities. According to the document, ICE envisions 254 transport hubs statewide-one for each Texas county-each staffed continuously by two armed contractor personnel. Vehicles must be able to respond within 30 minutes, maintaining an 80-percent readiness rate across three daily shifts."

ICE plans a privately-run, statewide detainee transportation network across Texas with nonstop transfers from 254 counties into ICE facilities and staging locations. Planning documents describe a transport grid with trips averaging about 100 miles and a small, around-the-clock contractor team assigned to each county. Contractors would be authorized to carry firearms and perform custody and transport duties at local, county, state, and ICE locations. The agency issued a market probe called "Transportation Support for Texas," detailing staffing, vehicle readiness, response-time requirements, cost structures, regional coverage, and command-and-control capabilities. Vehicles must respond within 30 minutes and maintain an 80-percent readiness rate across three shifts.

Read at WIRED