ICE wants to build a shadow deportation network in Texas
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering plans to launch a statewide private transportation system in Texas. The agency envisions a nonstop operation that routes immigrants detained in 254 counties to ICE facilities and staging areas across the state.
Early planning documents reviewed by WIRED describe a statewide transportation network designed to consistently move detainees in Texas, with ICE estimating each trip to average 100 miles. Each county will have its own small, round-the-clock team of contractors who collect immigrants from local authorities, who are deputized by ICE. This is a subtle transfer of the physical custody process into the hands of a private security company – authorized to carry firearms and carry out transportation duties “at any and all local, county, state and ICE locations.”
The proposal comes amid a new campaign by the Trump administration to expand domestic immigration enforcement. Over the past year, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has invested billions in detention contracts, reactivated international agreements with local police and ordered ICE to increase deportations within the United States. This plan fits well into that strategy. A logistical framework for a system designed to move prisoners faster and farther, with fewer federal agents seen in public.
The proposed system was released this week after ICE released a market study titled “Transportation Support for Texas.” The list includes draft operational requirements that outline staffing levels, vehicle readiness, and response time, along with detailed questions for vendors about cost structure, regional coverage, and command and control capabilities.
According to the document, ICE maintains 254 transportation centers across the state — one for each Texas county — each staffed continuously by two armed contractor personnel. Vehicles must be able to respond within 30 minutes and maintain an 80 percent readiness rate over three daily shifts. The ICE staffing model adds a 50 percent cushion for leave and turnover, increasing manpower requirements to half the baseline required to keep the system running uninterrupted.
WIRED calculates that this would require more than 2,000 full-time personnel, in addition to a fleet of hundreds of SUVs that ply the state around the clock.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What the plan describes is, in essence, a shadow logistics network built on agreements with local police departments under the 287(g) program. These symbolic gestures of cooperation are today the pipeline for real-time biometric checks and arrest notifications. Shipping is just the next logical step. For ICE, it creates a closed loop: Local authorities Arrest of immigrants Private contractors Deliver them to a local jail (paid to hold prisoners) or to a detention center run by a private company. The plan even specifies that contractors must maintain their own dispatch and command and control systems to manage movements across the country.
