Chicago – October 24, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security is funneling $10 billion through the Navy to help facilitate the construction of a sprawling network of migrant detention centers across the US in an arrangement aimed at getting the centers built faster, according to sources and federal contracting documents.
Construction on some of the facilities is set to begin as soon as next month, one of the sources familiar with the project told CNN.
It’s the latest example of the Trump administration leveraging the US military to support its immigration enforcement efforts, stemming from the White House’s desire to dramatically ramp up nationwide immigration operations and arrest a record number of migrants.
The contracting program, which has not been previously reported, is a joint effort between DHS and the Defense Department and leans on the Navy’s Supply Systems Command as a contracting arm to hire companies for construction and maintenance of the detention facilities.
The new detention centers are likely to be primarily soft-sided tents and may or may not be built on existing Navy installations, according to the sources familiar with the initiative. DHS has often leaned on soft-sided facilities to manage influxes of migrants.
One of the sources said the goal is for the facilities to house as many as 10,000 people each, and are expected to be built in Louisiana, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Utah and Kansas. Additional details about the facilities remain unclear, as the contracting process is still ongoing.
