Trump officials to reopen Texas detention center for migrant families

The Trump administration is reopening a sprawling detention center in south Texas for migrant families facing deportation, resuming the practice of detaining children four years after the Biden administration ended it, according to the private prison contractor that runs the facility.

CoreCivic, the corporation that operates the facility, announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reopen the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, with room for up to 2,400 people, making it one of the largest detention centers in ICE’s portfolio.

CoreCivic spokesman Steve Owen said “it’s our understanding that this will be housing families again. It’s a family residential center.”

Dilley City Administrator Henry Arredondo said in an interview last month that ICE notified them that Dilley would once more detain migrant families.

The Biden administration ended family detention in 2021. CoreCivic managed the facility from 2014 through August 2024, when the company said ICE terminated funding for the contract and the facility remained dormant.

ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the facility. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has said the administration would resume family detention.

CoreCivic said the total annual revenue from the facility is expected to be $180 million, including medical services.