Immigration detention expansion: US to detain 1,000 individuals in Indiana through collaboration with correctional facilities | United States Immigration

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasing its detention capacity by 1,000 beds in Indiana by partnering with the state’s prison system, according to federal officials. The detainees will be housed at the Miami Correctional Center, a prison managed by the Indiana Department of Corrections, as part of the US government’s expansion of immigration jails following the Trump administration’s allocation of approximately $170 billion to ICE. ICE will establish a facility in Indiana called the “Speedway Slammer” following the opening of the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail in Florida, which was established in collaboration with the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis. However, records from the jail in the remote Florida Everglades have raised doubts about the targets of ICE’s enforcement efforts and the conditions within the facility. Critics have called the Florida jail a “concentration camp” where detainees are forced to sleep in overcrowded pods and experience inhumane conditions, including sewage backups leading to feces-filled cages. Conditions at the Miami Correctional Center have also been questioned, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) raising concerns about prolonged darkness and live electrical wires in cells. The increasing use of federal prisons to house immigration detainees has caused chaos behind bars, with reports of horrifying conditions and overcrowding. Even so, the DeSantis administration in Florida is working to build a second immigration detention center, and ICE Secretary Kristi Noem has stated that the Florida jail would serve as a model for state-run facilities nationwide.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/05/indiana-immigration-detainees-ice