The Department of Homeland Security has not confirmed the reported $10 billion plan.
(AP Photo/Olga Fedorova) As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains an increasing number of immigrants, CNN reports plans for a new immigration detention center to be built in Utah.
A new migrant detention center is expected to soon be built in Utah, according to reporting published by CNN.
The report, which cites unnamed sources as well as documents from a federal contracting site, said officials hope the facility will be able to hold 10,000 people, and is one of six to be built in the United States.
The move, according to CNN, is meant to bolster the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions from The Salt Lake Tribune about CNN’s report.
Currently, when people are detained in Utah by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, they are typically processed in ICE’s West Valley office. Some are held temporarily in Utah jail facilities before being sent to detention facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada, or Aurora, Colorado.
In February, The New York Times reported that Hill Air Force Base could be used to hold immigrants who the administration says are in the U.S. illegally. At that time, a spokesperson for Hill said the base had not been officially contacted.
CNN reported that ICE has funding for 41,000 beds around the nation to temporarily house detainees, but Tom Homan, the White House border czar, has said he wants to double that number as ICE detains a rising number of immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security is spending $10 billion on the project, working through the U.S. Navy to find eligible contractors for the work, according to CNN.
Construction is set to begin in some places next month, CNN reported, though it did not indicate where.
No members of Utah’s all-Republican congressional delegation immediately responded to The Tribune’s requests for comment about the reported plans for a the facility.
CNN reported other detention centers are expected to be built in Louisiana, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kansas.
