Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich sounded the alarm this week over a massive new push by President Donald Trump to expand immigrant detention.
In a post on X, Reich said Trump wants to spend $45 billion to grow the immigration enforcement system and “let the private prison companies who bankrolled his campaign run at least a half dozen new detention centers.”
Critics Say It Won’t Improve Safety
Reich argued the move “won’t make us safer, but it will make the border-industrial complex even richer.”
Companies like CoreCivic and Geo Group have already secured lucrative new contracts under the Trump administration.
CoreCivic recently signed a $246 million deal to reopen a family detention center in Texas, while Geo Group landed a 15-year, $1 billion contract to operate a facility in Newark.
The Department of Homeland Security has posted a $45 billion request for proposals, inviting contractors to provide detention facilities, transportation, guards, and medical care.
The sweeping plan also opens the door for the Defense Department to use its own funds to detain immigrants.
Critics, including the National Immigration Law Center, say the proposal is laying the groundwork for an unprecedented expansion of immigrant detention, with fewer protections.
Facilities under the new contracts could operate under less strict standards than what ICE currently requires.
That means detainees may have limited access to medical care, mental health services, or even information about their legal rights.
“This is D.H.S. envisioning and getting ready to unroll—if it gets the money—an entirely new way of imprisoning immigrants in the U.S.,” said Heidi Altman, policy VP at the National Immigration Law Center.
Online Reaction: Heated and Divided
Reich’s post sparked a flood of reactions online, with many users slamming his stance and defending Trump’s proposal.
“Deporting illegals WILL make us safer,” one user wrote.
Another added, “Trump would be happy to deport them all. Get out of the way.”
Others backed Reich, calling the detention system racist and profit-driven. One user wrote, “I remember when they claimed to care about trafficking… but here they are actively trafficking.”
Private Contractors Poised To Benefit
Private detention companies appear ready for the boom.
Damon Hininger, CEO of CoreCivic, told investors in February that the company was in daily contact with the administration.
According to Joe Gomes, a research analyst, “The Trump administration policies here should be a significant boon for both CoreCivic and Geo at least in the short term.”
The current daily detention population already exceeds capacity, with nearly 48,000 people in ICE custody as of late March—well above the 41,500 beds Congress funded for 2024.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border policy chief, has made it clear that expanding detention is key to his strategy. “The more money we have, the more beds we can buy,” he told The New York Times.
Whether the $45 billion plan moves forward depends on future funding decisions. But the infrastructure and political will are already being put in place.
For Reich and others, the concern is clear: more detention, less oversight, and a lot more money for the companies that helped put Trump back in office.
IMAGE CREDIT: “Robert Reich” by Albaum, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Image adjusted for layout.