A big part of Trump’s immigration crackdown is unfolding behind closed doors

A key part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is far less visible than the aggressive arrests we’ve seen in the streets. But the detention centers that hold tens of thousands of immigrants behind closed doors are starting to draw more scrutiny from lawmakers and the public. And plans for a dramatic expansion of that system are meeting opposition in some unexpected places. For years immigrant detention centers, often run by private prison companies, have faced allegations of poor conditions and medical neglect.

Now the federal government, which disputes those accusations, says it needs more space for “the largest deportation effort in American history.” Officials are increasing the number of immigrants in custody and spending billions on a controversial plan to detain more people in converted warehouses. “These are industrial buildings that were never intended for human inhabitants. … The idea of detaining people in these buildings is really horrific,” says Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director of Detention Watch Network, an umbrella group pushing to end ICE detention. The plan marks a major change in how ICE approaches immigrant detention, and it’s not the only shift.

Here are five big changes in ICE detention during the second Trump administration, and why they’re significant. 1. The number of immigrants detained is growing The Trump administration pledged to detain more immigrants as part of its mass deportation campaign. And it has, both by increasing arrests and blocking many from requesting release on bond. There are about 70,000 detainees in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. That’s an increase of more than 80% from the total detained when Trump took office last year, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. “It’s a massive increase in the number of people in detention,” Ghandehari says.

Authorities have also dramatically increased the number of facilities where immigrants are detained, she says. A recent report from ICE lists 225 facilities housing detainees this year, roughly double the number listed a few months before the end of the Biden administration. DHS says it needs even more space “to help ICE law enforcement carry out the largest deportation effort in American history.” 2.

This includes children A photograph of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos wearing a bunny hat and a Spiderman backpack on the day ICE detained his father drew national attention earlier this year to another reality that’s becoming more common in the second Trump administration: children in ICE custody. Conejo and his dad ended up at a detention center in Dilley, Texas, that’s become the main location where ICE holds families. The Biden administration stopped detaining immigrant families at the facility, which first started housing families during the Obama administration. The Trump administration began holding families there again in April 2025.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t answer a recent question from CNN about the number of children in ICE custody. Recent reports by The Marshall Project and The New York Times estimate hundreds of families are being held at the Dilley facility. Critics have long argued it’s unsafe for ICE to detain children. During the first Trump administration, two whistleblower doctors told Congress that family detention was harmful to kids and should be stopped. Similar concerns are being raised by doctors today.

Asked for a response to these criticisms, a DHS spokesperson said families “are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs.” “Being in detention is a choice,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to CNN, arguing that parents can “take control of their departure” by choosing to self-deport. Children in ICE custody “have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading and spelling,” the statement said. “All of this is generously funded by the US taxpayer.” 3. Deaths in ICE detention are on the rise At least 31 people died in ICE detention last year, according to reports released by the agency, the highest total since 2004.

And less than three months into this calendar year, at least 12 people held in ICE detention have died – a trend that’s sparked concern from those who track these numbers and see them as a troubling indicator of widespread problems in the detention system. “We are on track to exceed what was already a record number of deaths in ICE detention, if things continue the way that they have,” Ghandehari says. Several members of the Senate Judiciary Committee pointed to the increase as they grilled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this month. “The numbers are a big increase from prior years,” Sen.

Alex Padilla said, going on to describe what he said were “deplorable conditions at facilities across the country.” At least three detention deaths have been reported at Camp East Montana, a tent facility in Texas at Fort Bliss where an average of nearly 3,000 detainees are held daily. That’s larger than any other ICE detention site. And one death there bares a notable distinction — a local medical examiner has ruled it a homicide. Witnesses alleged the man died after guards pinned him down, according to the AP. DHS previously told CNN in a statement that the 55-year-old Cuban migrant “violently resisted staff” who tried to intervene while he was trying to kill himself.

Nationally, DHS argues the rate of deaths in ICE custody has remained consistent. “There has been NO spike in deaths,” a department spokesperson said in response to questions from CNN about deaths in 2025 and 2026. “As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained higher standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens — including providing access to proper medical care,” the spokesperson said, adding that detainees also receive food, water, bedding, clean clothing and dietician-certified meals. But detainees calling into a hotline to report conditions paint a far more dire picture, according to Freedom for Immigrants, the advocacy group that runs the hotline.

“Medical neglect continues to be a really big condition that we’re hearing from different callers. And what’s challenging about it is the scale at which this abuse is happening,” says Freedom for Immigrants Organizing Director Amanda Díaz. Callers have also registered complaints about the use of solitary confinement, the lack of adequate food and facing retaliation for speaking out about conditions, she says. Freedom for Immigrants says its detention hotline received an average of more than 2,600 calls monthly between November 2025 and January 2026, more than double the average call volume a year earlier. 4.

Officials plan to use warehouses to detain more people In recent weeks, new details have emerged about ICE’s plans to buy warehouses across the country and convert them into massive detention centers. The warehouse purchases have surprised some communities, with local officials in some Republican strongholds expressing concerns that the facilities would drain resources and can’t be supported by existing infrastructure. ICE documents detailing the agency’s plans released by New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte describe a “new detention model” officials plan to implement by this fall.

The plan — funded by $38 billion from the “Big, Beautiful Bill” Congress passed last year — calls for the acquisition and renovation of eight facilities that can house between 7,000 and 10,000 detainees for up to 60 days, and 16 regional processing sites that can hold as many as 1,500 detainees for up to seven days. So far, according to DHS and local officials, ICE has purchased warehouses in 10 locations: Romulus, Michigan; Roxbury, New Jersey; Social Circle, Georgia; Oakwood, Georgia; Tremont, Pennsylvania; Hamburg, Pennsylvania; Surprise, Arizona; El Paso, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Williamsport, Maryland.

“These will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” the DHS spokesperson told CNN via email. “All sites undergo community impact studies and a rigorous due diligence process prior to purchase to ensure there is no detrimental impacts on local utilities or infrastructure.” DHS statements about the project have touted the jobs and tax revenue it will bring. But in some states, like New Hampshire, community pushback appears to have prompted federal officials to abandon plans. In other locations, projects are proceeding despite local opposition.

Officials in Social Circle say the Georgia city doesn’t have the water and wastewater capacity to handle the “mega center” planned in a warehouse ICE now owns there. A document posted on the city’s website, which officials say was given to them by DHS, provides the first glimpse at a possible floor plan for the massive facility. “2026 was always shaping up to be a transformational year for immigration detention, but few people anticipated this level of change,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council wrote in a recent analysis on the immigrant advocacy organization’s website.

“Should ICE’s ‘reengineering’ initiative come to fruition, the system of detention which has existed for generations may be fundamentally transformed into something even more sinister and more prone to abuses than ever.” 5. Oversight has been scaled back Advocates also fear that these efforts to ramp up immigrant detention are happening when there’s notably less oversight of detention facilities. The DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, one division charged with documenting and investigating reports of detention abuse, for example, was hit hard by cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency last year.

Officials initially said they were closing the office, then changed course. But court documents filed in a federal lawsuit this year detail significant reductions in staffing. There were 147 employees in the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties when Trump took office. Now there are less than 40, including contractors. The DHS spokesperson said in an email to CNN that the office “is performing all legally required functions, but in an efficient and cost-effective manner and without hindering the Department’s mission of securing the homeland.” Members of Congress have criticized DHS for limiting their inspections of the facilities.

A federal judge this month ordered the department to allow lawmakers to conduct unannounced visits to detention centers. ICE is appealing the ruling. Prior oversight efforts often fell short, according to Díaz of Freedom for Immigrants. But now, she says, advocates fear the claims they file over alleged abuses in detention aren’t even getting investigated. “What’s really concerning now,” she says, “is that there’s just not a lot of eyes and ears on what is happening inside.”