DHS Acquires Immigration Detention Facilities in California
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finalized the purchase of an immigration detention complex in Southern California for $950 million. This acquisition adds to the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to acquire facilities used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
GEO Group made the announcement on Monday regarding the sale, which includes three locations: Adelanto East, Adelanto West, and the Desert View Annex. Together, these facilities offer a total of 2,644 beds.
The Adelanto East and West facilities make up the 1,940-bed Adelanto ICE Processing Center, while the Desert View Annex contributes an additional 704 beds to the overall capacity.
This purchase comes on the heels of previous acquisitions by the administration, including four CoreCivic detention facilities costing over $2.2 billion, as was reported by Breitbart News in August.
DHS previously spent $734 million on two other facilities: the 1,600-bed Prairie Correctional Facility in Minnesota and the 1,033-bed Midwest Regional Reception Center in Kansas. Just before that, they purchased the California City Detention Facility and Otay Mesa Detention Center for $1.5 billion.
It is anticipated that CoreCivic will continue to manage all four facilities based on existing contracts with ICE, despite the federal government now owning them.
The DHS has indicated that acquiring these facilities is a strategic move to safeguard ICE’s detention network against initiatives by state officials to limit private detention centers.
Last year, Congress allocated $45 billion for immigration detention funding through an omnibus bill sponsored by President Donald Trump, which has facilitated these acquisitions.
As part of the Adelanto transaction, GEO will convey the properties to the federal government but plans to maintain its operational role through its ongoing ICE agreement.
The current contract is set to expire on December 19, 2029, with an option that can extend it for another five years, potentially lasting until December 19, 2034.
Additionally, the Florida-based GEO Group is looking to sell other facilities to ICE, contingent on pricing agreements and the retention of long-term operation contracts. However, they have clarified that no firm sale agreements or closing dates have been established for these pending transactions.
GEO Group is committed to supporting the federal government’s immigration enforcement priorities. The company’s CEO, George C. Zoley, expressed satisfaction with the recent asset sales to the federal government and emphasized their readiness to continue providing quality support services under long-standing contracts with ICE.
During a shareholder call in August, Zoley mentioned that ICE is exploring the acquisition of more than ten facilities, hinting that this number could rise in the future.
He elaborated that GEO views the ownership of the properties and the operations of those facilities as distinct facets of its business strategy, indicating a desire to sell buildings while maintaining service agreements. “We are pursuing a potential sale of the buildings, but we want to retain the business,” he stated to shareholders.
