SCOOP. Spending Bill Includes 22% Increase in Migrant Detention Capacity
The 7,500 new beds comes as border hawks propose mass detention policies
Capitol Press has learned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill expected to pass the House and Senate this week will increase the agency’s migrant detention capacity by 7,500 beds, according to a source familiar with spending bill text.
“That sounds about right,” a senior Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee confirmed to Capitol Press on Tuesday afternoon. The jump from 34,000 to 41,500 beds would be a roughly 22% increase over current capacity.
Detention Watch notes that current occupancy in DHS bed space is already over capacity. “On Biden’s inauguration day, the number of people in ICE detention was near 14,000, a two-decade low. Today, under his watch, that number is approaching 40,000, as he lobbies Congress for money to detain thousands more,” the watchdog organization posted on X on Tuesday.
The increase in migrant bed space comes at a time when border hawks in both parties are pushing policies that would balloon the number of migrants that DHS is required to keep in custody while their claims are adjudicated in immigration courts which already face historic backlogs that can take years to process.