ICE to Resume Detaining Migrant Children at Texas Center Targeted for Mistreatment Allegations

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will resume detaining migrant families, including children, at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, following a new agreement with private prison operator CoreCivic. The decision marks a shift back to the use of family detention, a practice ended during the Biden administration in favor of alternatives such as ankle monitoring.

CoreCivic announced that it had reached an amended agreement with ICE and the City of Dilley to reopen the facility, which has the capacity to hold up to 2,400 individuals. "We are grateful for the trust our government partner has placed in us," said CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger, as reported by Axios. "We are entering a period when our government partners—particularly our federal government partners—are expected to have increased demand."

The Dilley facility, originally built in 2014, became a focal point of controversy during the first Trump administration, as it housed migrant families amid family separation policies and was also the target of mistreatment allegations. In 2021 the Biden administration ended the practice of detaining families at the site, converting some family detention centers into processing facilities aimed at releasing migrants within 72 hours. Since 2024 the facility has remained dormant.

The new contract, which expires in 2030, is expected to generate approximately $180 million in annual revenue for CoreCivic. This agreement follows another expansion of ICE detention capacity at four CoreCivic-operated facilities in Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, and Oklahoma, increasing the company's total available beds for detainees.

CoreCivic executives have acknowledged the financial implications of the renewed detention policies. "We anticipate continued robust contracting activity throughout 2025 that will help meet their growing needs," said Hininger in a statement reported by ABC News.

The reopening of the facility has sparked renewed concerns from immigrant rights advocates, who previously criticized the Dilley facility's conditions and the broader practice of detaining children. With an immigration court backlog of 3.7 million cases, detained families could face prolonged stays before their cases are resolved.