Construction of migrant camps accelerates in America after Republican funding

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is racing to build camps for migrants across the country after receiving $45 billion in new funding.

The agency aims to increase the capacity of detention centers from 40,000 to 100,000 beds by the end of the year.

The report, citing documents reviewed by the American newspaper, added that the agency is prioritizing large-scale camps at military bases and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prisons, including a 5,000-bed site at Fort Bliss, Texas, and other locations in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey.

The report stated that senior US officials at the Department of Homeland Security, including Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, expressed a preference for detention centers run by Republican state and local governments rather than private prison companies.

The White House and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Noem said last week she was in talks with five Republican-led states to build additional detention sites inspired by the Alcatraz facility in Florida.

"We have a number of other states that are already using the Alcatraz facility as a model for how to partner with us," Noem said at a press conference in Florida, without naming any states.