ICE’s ‘Mega Centers’ Plan Faces Backlash as Tribe Backs Out

U.S. immigration authorities moved to design large detention “mega centers,” a step in a broader push to expand holding capacity — but within a day, a Kansas tribe said it was withdrawing from a nearly $30 million planning deal that helped set the effort in motion.

What Happened

On December 18, 2025, Bloomberg reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had struck a planning agreement to design large-scale detention and processing sites as part of a capacity buildout. The following day, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation said it had exited its involvement in the arrangement, after public backlash over the tribe’s role in early design work for potential facilities. According to the Associated Press, the contract with KPB Services LLC — a tribal-affiliated company formed in April — was initially awarded in October and amended in November to $29.9 million for “due diligence and concept designs” across the U.S. The tribe said it has divested from KPB; the company remains under contract, AP reported.

Why It Matters

The episode underscores how ICE’s rapid expansion plans are colliding with political, legal and community resistance. Internal documents obtained by the Washington Post show the agency’s goal to roughly double detention capacity, with an emphasis on large hubs that can each hold 1,000 or more people. By year’s end, the number of such mega-facilities was projected to rise from 29 to 49, part of a strategy that also includes reopening dormant prisons and using soft‑sided structures.

The Bigger Picture

Federal planning this year has contemplated a sweeping scale-up — funded by recent appropriations — to move toward roughly 100,000-plus detention beds nationwide. That buildout has relied on private prison operators, emergency acquisitions, and reconfigured sites near transportation hubs. It has also drawn scrutiny from watchdogs and civil rights groups, who argue larger, remote facilities can strain staffing and oversight and make legal access harder.

What’s Next

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s withdrawal does not by itself unwind the federal planning contract, but it intensifies attention on how ICE is securing and structuring these awards — especially sole-source deals — and where the next facilities could be sited. Lawmakers and courts are likely to probe procurement practices and access to detention sites, even as ICE continues to adjust contracts and reopen facilities to meet arrest targets. The core question now is whether community resistance and legal challenges will slow the timeline for building the large hubs the agency says it needs.

Sources

• ICE Plans Detention Expansion With Deal to Design ‘Mega Centers’ — Bloomberg (December 18, 2025)
• Kansas tribe ends nearly $30 million deal with ICE — Associated Press (December 19, 2025)
• ICE documents reveal plan to double immigrant detention space this year — Washington Post (August 15, 2025)