Republicans approved $45 billion in funding to dramatically increase detention capacity for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but so far the agency hasn't added much to that system, according to a report.
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act gave enough money to ICE to nearly triple its detention capacity to more than 100,000 beds, but The Atlantic reported that the agency's arrests peaked in June — the month before the law was signed — and has gone down in the months since then.
"The lack of detention space has slowed Trump’s immigration crackdown at a moment when it was primed to accelerate," The Atlantic reported. "From January to June, the average number of detainees per day in ICE custody rose 43 percent, to more than 57,000. But since July, when the funding was approved, the detainee population has increased only about 5 percent, to roughly 60,000, the latest statistics show."
Social media posts showing masked federal agents kicking down doors and rounding up day laborers from Home Depot parking lots give the appearance of an ever-expanding deportation campaign, but government sources blamed a controversial Trump ally for the apparent stall-out since the summer.
"Eight current and former officials at ICE and the Department of Homeland Security told me that they blame Corey Lewandowski, the longtime Trump-world figure who is a 'special government employee' at DHS and functions as the unofficial chief of staff to Secretary Kristi Noem," The Atlantic reported. "Lewandowski has operated as a gatekeeper for Noem, especially since June, when the department implemented a new policy requiring her to sign off on any contract exceeding $100,000."
“There’s extreme frustration that the president’s agenda — when it comes to ICE beds, and therefore deportations — is not going to happen,” one former DHS official said. “The White House worked for months to get the reconciliation bill over the finish line. Why did you just lobby Congress for months saying you needed the money if you don’t intend to spend it?”
DHS has 260,000 employees and an annual budget of $62 billion, so Noem's insistence on personally signing off on six-figure contracts covers thousands of deals that keep the department running.
"DHS’s new contracting rules have produced 'chaos,' according to the current and former officials I spoke with, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters or feared reprisals from the administration," the report said. "Most of them support the president and his mass-deportation plan, but told me they were dismayed that ICE seemed to be losing altitude right after securing the funding they’d always dreamed of."
Some of the former officials who complained about Lewandowski and the slowdown have ties to for-profit detention centers that have facilities they're waiting to fill, but Lewandowski insisted that he and Noem were focused on cutting costs and conducting hardball negotiations with detention contractors.
“I understand that the private companies, who have made an incredibly good living off the backs of the U.S. taxpayers for a long time, are not happy,” Lewandowski told The Atlantic. “We are asking all vendors to provide the best value. They’ve all come back and said, ‘You know what? We can do better. We can do better because we understand.’”
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the publication that Noem was seeking deals with state governors to prevent for-profit detention companies are trying to “take advantage” of the government.
“Secretary Noem isn’t going to let the American taxpayer get ripped off,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin claimed the secretary was focused on cost-effective solutions with states “so that we aren’t locked into decades-long contracts when bed space need is eventually slowed,” which she said had saved taxpayers more than $12 billion, but former DHS officials disputed her claims and accused Noem of trying to boost her profile with state-level Republicans with an eye on 2028's election.
“I want to see the administration succeed, and we can’t succeed if we’re playing all these f*cking games," said one senior administration official.
Lewandowski said the ICE detention network should soon expand rapidly, pointing to data showing that deportations had nearly tripled since Trump returned to office, and the agency has received 175,000 applications for prospective new officers.
“We have put an enormous strain on our workforce,” Lewandowski said. “Now we’re seeing some reinforcements.”
