Editor’s note: This editorial originally appeared in our bilingual sister publication, Tribuno del Pueblo. “If they build them, they will fill them up”; this is what Rachel Maddow said in one of her Monday shows in February. She was referring to the 23 new detention centers ICE is planning to build in rural areas in the U.S. This is on top of the more than 200 detention centers already in existence.
Where are they getting the money? Who are they for? Who’s profiting from building them?
First of all, where is the money to build them coming from? The money is coming from you and me — it’s our tax money we pay to the federal government every year. Remember the “Big Beautiful Bill“? Well, it allocated $170 billion for immigration enforcement over five years, includeing $45 billion to ICE to build detention centers all around the country.
Why so many detention centers? For one, President Trump’s executive order calling for the maximum use of detention has created a “no release” system where increasingly few individuals are able to seek release on bond. By the end of November 2025, discretionary releases from detention fell by 87%. (New Report Details ICE’s Expanding and Increasingly Unaccountable Detention System – January 23, 2026 – American Immigration Council).
As a consequence the number of those detained has increased. But there’s a more sinister answer: If Trump and his cohorts are pushing toward an authoritarian regime, the resistance to it will grow, so in preparation they are building detention centers, or rather concentration camps, to “house” those who oppose their undemocratic policies.
The U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of the country, is being violated every day by ICE agents. ICE agents are running rampant in their urgency to fill their daily quotas. While we’ve been told that these detention centers/concentration camps are to detain “the worst of the worst criminals,” we have witnessed the contrary. Since June, ICE has been operating on steroids. Over 328,000 persons were arrested by ICE between Oct 1, 2025, and Dec 14, 2025. The majority of those detained, (around 73%) have no criminal convictions; of those convicted, the majority only had minor offenses, including traffic violations, and only 5% of those detained by ICE have violent convictions.
Those detained have had their necks kneeled on, been held outside in the rain while in their underwear, and at least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them.
ICE violates the 1st and 4th amendments every day:
- The 1st amendment protects the five freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.
- The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government
Without adhering to the Constitution there’s no democracy. Trump and his administration are converting the U.S. into an authoritarian regime.
But wait a minute, not so fast… What about the resistance?
Fortunately, people’s conscience is growing and are not so easily duped by the need to build detention centers, especially in their communities. That’s why local communities, government leaders and even would-be sellers of some of the buildings the government is scoping are putting up a fight against the building of such detention centers.
The people of Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Ashland Virginia and Elkridge, Maryland are soundly organizing against the building of detention centers in their cities.
Oklahoma City
In Oklahoma City, the Department of Homeland Security outlined plans to convert a warehouse located near the largely Hispanic Western Heights School District into a detention center. But following weeks of opposition from locals and city council members, the company that owns the warehouse broke off talks with the agency and said it wouldn’t be selling.
Salt Lake City
In Salt Lake City, Mayor Erin Mendenhall in January sent a letter to the owner of a warehouse on the city’s west side that was rumored to be in ICE’s sights stating that if the facility were to be used as a detention center it would be in violation of city code. The 20 Democratic members of Utah’s Senate and House of Representatives also sent a letter to the state’s four U.S. House members and two U.S. senators calling for them to combat the apparent plans for the facility. [ICE has since bought a different warehouse in Salt Lake City, and the mayor continues to fight ICE’s plans for a detention center in the city.]
Kansas City
The Kansas City Council members issued a moratorium on approvals for non municipal detention facilities in a 12-1 vote. The moratorium is in effect until Jan. 15, 2031, and covers any permits, zoning, or development applications that would need the city’s approval. The warehouse would require a special use permit from the city to operate as a detention center.
Ashland, Virginia
The owner of a warehouse, a 550,000 square-foot facility in Ashland, Virginia, stated that it would no longer be selling the property to DHS, after the community opposed it.
Elkridge, Maryland
Nearby in Maryland, Howard County executive Calvin Ball announced the first week of February that the county had revoked a building permit for a planned detention facility in Elkridge.
The opposition to mass deportations and the building of detention centers is being led by decent people in the U.S. who will not stand idle while their neighbors are being kidnapped, or their classmates are being handcuffed and taken away. The outrage has grown together with their organization, especially after the killing of Good and Pretti in Minnesota. The opposition is not a small percentage; 65 percent oppose the Trump administration’s violent tactics.
Let’s keep up the pressure and organization, because Trump and his cohorts are on the defensive. They cannot defend policies of children being detained, people being tased, dragged and killed, for no reason at all. The truth is that it is the Trump administration who are the worst of the worst. Trump and his gang are showing us everyday that it is them who are the thugs, the criminals, the rapists and murderers.
Laura Garcia is co-editor of El Tribuno del Pueblo. Visit www.tribunodelpueblo.org
