A private prison company, CoreCivic, has announced a new agreement to reopen the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, previously utilized for housing immigrant families by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This 2,400-bed facility, situated approximately 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Laredo and the Mexico border, was actively used during the administrations of both President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump.
The South Texas Family Residential Center was phased out under the Biden administration, which discontinued family detention practices in 2021. CoreCivic indicated that the facility was officially idled in 2024, but with the new contract with ICE, it is set to house families again. CoreCivic’s spokesman, Ryan Gustin, confirmed the company anticipates accommodating families at the Dilley facility in the near future.
This detention center was specifically designed for ICE in 2014, aiming to provide a suitable environment for family populations in detention. The contract stipulated with ICE and the city of Dilley is set to remain in effect until at least March 2030, highlighting a long-term commitment to this facility. However, ICE officials have not shared details regarding who will be detained at Dilley and the timeline for these operations.
ICE largely relies on privately operated detention facilities, processing centers, and partnerships with local prisons and jails for detaining immigrants. At the beginning of this year, ICE had no facilities designated for families, who represented about one-third of all arrivals at the southern border during the previous year. In contrast, the Trump administration expanded immigration detention strategies to include military installations, such as Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba, using flights departing from Army bases in El Paso, Texas.
Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group, both of which have longstanding affiliations with ICE, argue that they can provide more cost-effective immigrant detention options compared to military facilities. During Trump's presidency, the use of military bases for detaining immigrant children was authorized, with specific sites including Army installations at Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas. This shift was seen during both Trump’s and Obama’s administrations, where military bases were temporarily relied upon during surges in immigrant crossings.
Back in 2014, President Obama had turned to military bases to manage the detention of children amid an influx of Central American families arriving at the border. This historical context evidences a pattern of utilizing various types of facilities for immigrant detention, reflecting changing policies and administrative priorities over the years.
