The Scoop
The Trump administration is in talks with a private shipping-container company to provide temporary space to house and process thousands of migrants slated for deportation, according to people familiar with the matter.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in discussions with Phoenix-based Willscot about leasing the company’s mobile structures to house undocumented detainees, the people said. Willscot’s products are commonly used as construction-site storage and office space.
The Trump administration might opt to deploy a handful of containers for medical or administrative space at migrant detention facilities, the people said. They are also likely to house some of the thousands of migrants at facilities along the southern border or at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Trump, via executive order, is looking to send up to 30,000 migrants with criminal records.
The first of those migrants arrived at Guantanamo on Wednesday, multiple news outlets reported. The Department of Homeland Security also told Semafor that an additional flight carrying 13 “highly dangerous criminal aliens” arrived at the military base on Thursday.
Spokespeople for DHS, Willscot, and the White House declined to comment.
Know More
At the moment, Guantanamo’s capacity is not nearly the size needed to house the number of migrants Trump has proposed. The New York Times reported in 2023 that the base held a few dozen detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a Swiss refugee nonprofit recently put its capacity at 130.
Willscot is one of the largest players in the modular office sector, with about $2.4 billion in revenue over the last year. It’s done some work with the federal government, according to S&P Capital IQ data, but the majority of its 100,000 customers are private companies that need office space for renovation or construction work.
Their modular offices can be outfitted with restroom facilities and functionally all support air conditioning, according to Willscot’s customer specification sheet.
No final decisions have been made as of now about the expansion of operations at Guantanamo, where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to visit on Friday as the administration weighs options to boost capacity, CNN reported. Another plan for potentially housing migrants involves enacting tent camps, NBC News recently reported.
Notable
- Ten migrants with alleged gang connections are being held in a Guantanamo area previously used for terrorism suspects, per the New York Times.
- The Trump administration’s plan could invite legal challenges that slow down deportations, Fox News reported.