ICE targets Plan B after backlash to mega-jails plan

ICE is in talks to buy turnkey immigration detention facilities from its biggest vendors as local backlash derails its plan to rapidly renovate warehouses into large-scale detention spaces .

Why it matters: The Department of Homeland Security wants to own its detention spaces, a pivot from the mostly leased network of beds that held a peak a population of more than 70,000 detainees earlier this year.

Zoom in: "The broader vision is to develop a nationwide network that consolidates populations in relatively larger facilities that allows them to be able to service the needs of the entire country," CoreCivic CEO Patrick Swindle said on an investors call on Thursday.

• CoreCivic leases roughly one-quarter of ICE's immigrant detention beds to the agency and is in talks to sell some of its "turnkey" facilities to the agency.
• GeoGroup, one of ICE's largest vendors, is also in talks to sell ICE some of its detention space, executives said on an earnings call on Wednesday. It currently hosts about 25,000 beds for ICE.
• "I can respectfully acknowledge that we have been in discussions with ICE regarding the potential sale of multiple facilities subject to mutual agreement on price and our continued management of those facilities under long term support services contracts," Geo Group chairman and CEO George Zoley said.
• Zoley said the talks are fluid but the sales could come in its second or third quarter of this year.

Zoom out: This buying spree builds on the 11, already-purchased warehouses that ICE planned to use for large scale detention space.

• None of these facilities are functioning.
• They have drawn significant pushback from Republican elected officials who have outright stopped some purchase plans, local activists and legal challenges.

Two warehouses were pressing forward to renovate and open to detainees, but an environmental policy focused lawsuit is halting work in Hagerstown, Maryland.

• A potential multi-thousand-bed warehouse facility in Surprise, Arizona had a "stop work order" issued on its renovation project just days before also drawing litigation from the state government.
• There have also been talks about selling some of these already-purchased warehouses, one source familiar with the discussions said.

What they're saying: "At this time, the warehouse project has been paused, and DHS is evaluating how to proceed with this initiative to increase in consolidating detention capacity," Zoley said.

• Geo Group said that ICE is looking to buy 10 "turn key" facilities.
• ICE currently has about 200 detention facilities around the country as well as a local jail space made available through partnership agreements, according to its detention data.
• The Trump administration has said its goal is to reach 100,000-bed capacity.

The other side: DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.