Trump reopens two illegal immigrant detention centers in Texas

The Trump administration confirmed the reopening of two detention centers for illegal immigrants in Texas, NBC News reported.

The centers, which are under the control of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were previously used to detain families who were in the country illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a statement to the New York Post (NYP).

The move is part of the Trump administration's effort to conduct mass deportations.

During his speech before Congress this week, the president announced that his administration will carry out the largest deportation operation in the country's history.

As Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin noted, all of the families have deportation orders issued by federal judges, as the NYP reported.

The facilities

One of the facilities, the South Texas Family Residential Center, located in the city of Dilley, was the largest ICE detention center and could hold up to 2,400 people.

It was closed by the Biden administration in 2024 on the grounds that it was the most expensive detention facility.

At that time, ICE claimed that the facility would be replaced with 1,600 detention beds to save costs.

The other facility the government decided to open is the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center, which previously housed adult detainees for the Biden administration. It will have more than 600 beds for detained families, according to the New York Post.

It should be noted that during the Obama administration, the facility was used to hold families who were in the United States illegally. Then, under the first Donald Trump administration, it continued to be used in the same manner. However, the Biden administration stopped using it to house families and instead used it for single men until it was closed in 2024.

The facility will be managed by private contractor CoreCivic Inc.