Trump administration hits hurdles as it builds a key immigrant detention facility

Source: NBC News

Aug. 14, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT


Later this week, the Trump administration is set to open a sprawling new immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss in Texas that is slated to eventually become the largest in the nation.

The opening comes after months of setbacks, including two investigations into possible improper bidding, two canceled contracts and, most recently, a death on the construction site.

The facility, which will open with capacity to hold 1,000 people, is a key part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s moves to more than double the space it has nationwide to detain immigrants as the Trump administration pushes for more arrests and the agency prepares for a historic influx of cash.

Once seen as the answer to ICE’s detention space crunch — after a previous attempt at an answer, the naval base at Guantánamo Bay, failed — Fort Bliss is now also an example of the complications that can arise when ICE scrambles to expand detention. The agency has been under intense pressure from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and others in the Trump administration to quickly ramp up the number of immigrants it arrests. It is currently holding a record 60,000 immigrants in detention, according to an ICE official. And it is out of space.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-administration-hits-hurdles-builds-key-immigrant-detention-facil-rcna224608