How the Pentagon is Quietly Building Trump’s Concentration Camps
SCOOP: A repurposed Navy contract to funnel tens of billions to ICE for a nationwide "ghost network” of concentration camps—just got a lot bigger.
WASHINGTON — Under the cover of a looming partial government shutdown and a nation reeling from immigration agent-involved killings, the Department of Homeland Security is quietly supercharging its detention infrastructure.
A massive Navy contract vehicle, once valued at $10 billion, has ballooned to a staggering $55 billion ceiling to expedite President Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” agenda.
The mechanism for this expansion is the Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract (WEXMAC), originally designed for military logistics abroad. In a move to bypass traditional competition delays, the Navy’s Supply Systems Command has repurposed the vehicle for “TITUS”—Territorial Integrity of the United States.
This $45 billion increase, published just weeks ago, converts the U.S. into a “geographic region” for expeditionary military-style detention. It signals a massive, long-term escalation in the government’s capacity to pay for detention and deportation logistics. In the world of federal contracting, it is the difference between a temporary surge and a permanent infrastructure.
As for taxpayer accountability over how their money gets spent, there is no "grace period" or setup time for contractors. The companies already contracting with the government are grandfathered into future contract increases. The Navy turns a "pilot program" into a permanent, massive-scale operation overnight with fast money incentives like “task orders” that can be issued in days or even hours.
Task orders allow DHS to bypass the months-long public bidding process for every new facility. When the contract says task orders are issued when "specific dates and locations are identified," it means the infrastructure is currently a "ghost" network that can be materialized anywhere in the U.S. the moment a site is picked.
The Logistics of Mass Confinement
Documents reveal a clinical blueprint for a new “sprawling network” of facilities. This isn’t just about bed space; it’s about the rapid deployment of self-contained cities.
Infrastructure: Contractors are tasked with providing “soft-sided” tent cities capable of housing up to 10,000 people each.
Life Support: The contract’s line items include everything from 300-square-meter “closed tents” with 1,000-lux lighting to large BBQ grills and industrial-scale shower facilities.
Surveillance & Control: The vehicle mandates “Force Protection” services, including “HESCO” earth-filled defensive barriers, 8-foot-high CONEX box walls, and “Weather Resistant” guard shacks.
Medical & Death: The services extend to “Medical Waste Management,” with specific protocols for biohazard incinerators and “Certified Inventory of Evidence” reports for “Full-Service Laundry” operations.
One of the newest additions to this vehicle is African Contract Solutions (ACS), a firm that boasts “Boots on the Ground” experience in the Sahel since 2015. Their capabilities include providing “Secure Team Houses,” “Urban/Rural” security escorts, and “Risk Assessments” for remote sites—the exact toolkit now being deployed against migrant communities domestically.
A City Under Siege
The expansion comes as Minneapolis has become the locus of resistance following the back-to-back killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Customs and Border agents shot Pretti, an ICU nurse and U.S. citizen, ten times in five seconds as he recorded a protest with his phone.
These deaths have turned ICE and CBP into one of the most unpopular agencies in the country. Demonstrators now face a phalanx of “masked federal agents” in what residents describe as an “urban occupation”.
The Capitol Stand-Off
While the DHS machine accelerates, its funding has hit a wall in Congress. On Friday, the Senate passed a “mini-bus” package that includes five major spending bills to fund multiple agencies through September, but singles out DHS for only two weeks of funding.
Democratic senators, emboldened by national outrage, plan to use this two-week window to negotiate guardrails for ICE and CBP including the following:
An end to “roving patrols” in cities.
Mandatory body cameras and identification for all agents.
Stricter warrant requirements from judges.
Prohibit field agents from wearing masks.
Republican Senator John Kennedy has expressed deep skepticism about these talks, predicting the “so-called reforms” will fail. “What I smell coming,” Kennedy warned, “is a long, long shutdown for DHS.”
Notably, Kennedy doesn’t mention the “One Big Beautiful Bill” funds the expansion of ICE and Border Patrol though 2029. And he certainly doesn’t mention the enormous Pentagon slush fund DHS has with the Navy. Or any other federal infusions of cash and authority DHS can access in a shutdown situation. DHS is basically shutdown-proof from a funding perspective.
Democrats alone do not have the leverage to stop Trump’s terror squads from wrecking through American communities that will never be the same again. Republicans support for masked gunmen terrorizing American communities is less vocal but no less important.
Two weeks from now after a careful compromise in the Senate, ICE agents might have to remove their masks to receive additional money for the rest of the fiscal year. That’s the only real leverage Senate Democrats have — at least until a natural disaster requiring FEMA monies become the political fuel to pass another spending bill for the agency.
MY TAKE: If Congress does nothing, DHS will continue to thrive. With three more years pre-funded, plus a U.S. Navy as a benefactor, Secretary Kristi Noem–or any potential successor–has the legal and financial runway to keep the business of creating ICE concentration camps overnight in American communities running long after any news cycle fades.
While Kennedy predicts a "long, long shutdown" for DHS, this contract vehicle suggests the department has already secured the "ceiling" it needs to operate at a massive scale regardless of the immediate budget battles in the House.
Do you have any pressing questions for Congress this week? Drop them in the comments below. Be as concise as possible. Thank you for reading! Please consider subscribing to support my work. Last year, Migrant Insider broke the most news of any outlet on the immigration beat. I’m looking for a repeat this year.
Can this WEXMAC thing be stopped in the DHS approps bill even though it’s DoD funding?
@Pablo Manríquez
Large vacant
Trump administration mulls turning vacant warehouses into mega-detention centers
The expansion is financed by President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, part of a record $76.5 billion allocation to ICE, transforming it into the largest federal law enforcement agency.
JOE TUZARA, M.D. @TUZARAPOST
NOV 13
By Ava Grace
November 14, 2025
The Trump administration plans to convert large, vacant warehouses – some originally built for corporations like Amazon – into “mega detention centers” for immigrants facing deportation. These facilities could be up to 3.8 million square feet, dwarfing existing ICE detention centers.
ICE is targeting warehouses near major airports in the southern U.S. to streamline deportations, minimizing transit times and centralizing operations for efficiency.
Unlike traditional private or state-run detention centers, ICE would directly purchase and operate these facilities, consolidating federal oversight and reducing reliance on contractors.
"The expansion is financed by President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, part of a record "$76.5 billion" allocation to ICE, transforming it into the largest federal law enforcement agency.
BOTTOMLINE
The Trump administration, through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is reportedly in early-stage discussions to purchase and retrofit large warehouses—originally designed for e-commerce giants like Amazon—into expansive “mega-detention centers” for holding immigrants amid planned mass deportations.
These facilities would be significantly larger than existing ICE detention sites, averaging more than twice the size, to accommodate a rapid expansion of detention capacity.
By Ava Grace
November 14, 2025
The Trump administration plans to convert large, vacant warehouses – some originally built for corporations like Amazon – into “mega detention centers” for immigrants facing deportation. These facilities could be up to 3.8 million square feet, dwarfing existing ICE detention centers.
ICE is targeting warehouses near major airports in the southern U.S. to streamline deportations, minimizing transit times and centralizing operations for efficiency.
Unlike traditional private or state-run detention centers, ICE would directly purchase and operate these facilities, consolidating federal oversight and reducing reliance on contractors.
The expansion is financed by President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, part of a record "$76.5 billion" allocation to ICE, transforming it into the largest federal law enforcement agency.
BOTTOMLINE
The Trump administration, through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is reportedly in early-stage discussions to purchase and retrofit large warehouses—originally designed for e-commerce giants like Amazon—into expansive “mega-detention centers” for holding immigrants amid planned mass deportations.
These facilities would be significantly larger than existing ICE detention sites, averaging more than twice the size, to accommodate a rapid expansion of detention capacity.
This aligns with broader immigration enforcement strategies under the new administration, including prior considerations of involving the U.S. Navy for faster construction of detention networks.
A departure from traditional models
This initiative marks a stark departure from the traditional model of immigrant detention.
Historically, ICE has relied heavily on a network of facilities owned and operated by private prison corporations or state governments, which are then contracted to hold detainees.
Under this new plan, ICE would purchase the warehouses outright, owning the properties directly.
Furthermore, the agency intends to staff these mega-centers with its own federal employees, rather than contractors or military personnel, consolidating direct federal control over the entire detention process.
The financial muscle for this ambitious expansion would come from the massive budget reconciliation package President Donald Trump signed earlier this year, a bill he famously dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
This allocation is part of a broader, historic funding injection for ICE, transforming it into the largest federal law enforcement agency.