Original Date Announced

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration is planning to establish "a nationwide network of military detention facilities for immigrants who are subject to deportation" by building additional detention facilities on military sites across the U.S. According to officials familiar with the plan, the administration is currently developing a deportation facility at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, which could eventually hold up to 10,000 undocumented immigrants. Fort Bliss would serve as a model for other facilities around the country to address a shortage of space at ICE facilities.

Trump 2.0 [ID #1565]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.04.11 Reported: ICE awards $3.8 billion contract to privately held company to operate a migrant detention camp on Fort Bliss - ProPublica

​ProPublica reports Deployed Resources secured a $3.8 billion contract to operate a migrant detention camp on Fort Bliss as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts. The company previously built structures for policies like the Migrant Protection Protocols and later operated emergency shelters for unaccompanied minors under the Biden administration. ProPublica, From Lollapalooza to Detention Camps: Meet the Tent Company Making a Fortune Off Trump’s Deportation Plans.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.04.13 Deployed Resources Contract for Fort Bliss Terminated - USASpending.gov

The $3.8 billion contract awarded by DHS to Deployed Resources for the "temporary housing structures, resources, services, and supplies necessary to" operate the proposed Fort Bliss, TX, detention center has been terminated "for convenience," according to the federal contracting site.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.04.24 Reported: ICE still seeking to award new contract for Fort Bliss facility - ProPublica

ProPublica reports an ICE spokesperson confirmed, without providing a reason, that the Deployed Resources contract was terminated, adding: “[A] revised procurement action for Fort Bliss is currently active and ongoing.” ProPublica notes that although Deployed Resources could win the contract following a subsequent round of bidding, "it likely is not the only bidder interested in the job, which could be broken up into two pieces."

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.07.22 Reported: Trump Awards Immigration Detention Center Contract for Fort Bliss in Texas - Bloomberg

The Trump administration awarded a $1.26 billion contract to Acquisition Logistics Company to convert Fort Bliss in El Paso into a 5,000-bed immigration-detention facility. This would be the largest such facility in the U.S. The project relies on tents for detention, raising concerns over living conditions for detainees.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.08.01 Reported: Fort Bliss detention facility could begin operation as early as August 1, 2025 - KTSM

KTSM reports that, according to congressional Representative Veronica Escobar, Fort Bliss could begin operating as an immigration-detention facility as early as August 1, 2025, which is two years prior to the facility's expected completion date.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.08.07 Reported: Trump's plan to hold migrants at military bases begins taking shape - Washington Post

The Washington Post reports that ICE began holding migrants at Fort Bliss in El Paso on August 1 and expects to hold 1,000 migrants at the facility by August 17.