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How the Trump administration plans to speed up deportations with new holding centers

By WTOP Staff

As detention efforts by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency continue, new reports are detailing that the Donald Trump administration is working to develop large-scale holding centers to speed up deportations. This is according to internal ICE documents reviewed by the Washington Post.

One location being considered is a facility with the potential to hold 10,000 people in Stafford County, Virginia.

This plan would change the current system — where people are moved around to whichever facility has open beds — into a staged pipeline built around “processing sites” and massive “warehouses” intended to speed removals.

In his report, Douglas MacMillan said the Trump administration aims to build seven large-scale holding centers that can hold as many as 80,000 immigrants in warehouses at a time.

One senior ICE official told the Post the move is “similar to an Amazon Prime warehouse, but for people.”

Newly arrested detainees would spend weeks at intake locations before being transferred into one of the facilities designed to hold anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people each.

The Post noted acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons said at a conference back in April that “the administration needs to treat deportations like a business.”

The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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