ICE Is Shopping for 5,500 More Detention Beds Near Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver and Miami, Contracting Records Show

A July 10, 2026 ICE request for information, reported on July 29 by WPLG Local 10 in Miami, seeks "turnkey" detention capacity in four metropolitan areas: at least 1,800 beds near Philadelphia, 1,500 near Seattle, 1,500 near Denver and 700 within 50 driving miles of the Miami field office in Plantation, Florida. The contract described in the request would cover housing, transportation, health, guard and food services for male and female detainees at low and medium custody levels, with "high" custody preferred.

A request for information is a market-research step rather than an award, so the beds are proposed rather than contracted. The four sites would add roughly 5,500 beds to a system that ICE has been expanding through separate contracts at other locations.

The search comes as detainees at existing South Florida facilities have raised conditions complaints. Detainees at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami told Local 10 in early July that they lacked air conditioning and drinking water; the Bureau of Prisons said there had been a temporary air conditioning malfunction and that bottled water was available. Some of those detainees said they had been transferred from the state-run facility known as Alligator Alcatraz.