Impact of Industrialization of Harmful Restraint – Assessing the Increased Restraint Capacity of US DHS / ICE War on Our Own
As part of FightBackBetter’s attempts to support and elevate opposition to the Roxbury industrial harmful restraint facility that ICE bought from Goldman Sachs and Texas real estate tycoon Sean Dalfen, we had done a quick math equation of just how many NJ area people will be harmed in the facility. We estimated the number as between 50K to 180K based upon the capacity of the facility and the stated turnaround time from ICE documents about their plans for the harm site. They plan to harm 50K to 180K more people in the NJ area than are already being harmed by ICE.
To be clear – every encounter of our population with ICE in our communities brings harm to everyone that even sees their presence through all of those that end up being kidnapped – and including all of the 100s of ways they are abusing us in the streets every day – throughout NJ and the entirety of the USA: ICE brings harm with every interaction. Those ending up harmfully restrained in the harm centers, they are subjected to every kind of abuse. The pattern of maximal abuse of ICE and its subcontractor mercenary harm center rent-a-thug gangster forces supplied by Core Civic and GEO and other criminal operations is obviously intended to compel the captives to agree to “self deport” as fast as they can to avoid physical harm in the facilities.
Every ICE facility has a litany of abuses – most recent reports are at Delaney Hall in Newark, the food is not fit to eat, the water not fit to drink, guards provoking violence and retaliation for anyone who complains . . . there have been years of documented complaints at NJ’s Elizabeth facility.
We have begun to collect a list of reports about abuses placed under this article.
Currently reportedly – and these numbers can be way off because of the evasiveness with facts and evidence of the criminal DHS / ICE operations – there are 70 -80K captive and held by ICE in harm centers across the USA. In addition there are an unknown number held at ICE contracted facilities outside of USA. For some solid information about ICE deportations to “third countries” please check Third Country Deportation Watch and U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).
Assume that every single harmfully restrained human across all of these facilities are subjected to multiple, dozens of, harms every day. Currently it is a function of USA to intentionally harm humans in intentional harm facilities over often false accusations about immigration status or false suspicion. The racial and ethnic motivation of who is being harmed is not even disguised and has been endorsed as US policy by the US Supreme Court which literally approved the targeting of the population by race, skin color, language, accent and ethnicity – for rounding up to be placed in intentional harm centers.
We all know that there currently is an unexplained rush to increase this harmful restraint capacity by close to 150% ! Who decided that our tax dollars should be expended and on intentionally harming humans, including immigrants, citizens, residents, those who are completely legally qualified to be here and those who have broken no criminal law as far as the people go? While MAGA led the charge and Democrats crossed the aisle to vote for the budget that is funding this harmful violence against the populace, the people of the USA never said lets almost triple the number that ICE marauders are harming across the USA.
The US under Trump is expending billions buying industrial warehouses, including the infamous Roxbury facility, with the explicit intent to harm millions of actual humans in these facilities. With the help of the expertise of the “Salt Box” team, that has some of its work based in the Bluesky application, the FightBackBetter editors team has crunched some of the numbers to estimate the increased capability of the industrialization of human harm that the ICE process will lead to. Consider that the US is not seeing this capacity need as a temporary need to address a short term issue – but a permanent harmful presence continuing to feed these numbers of people every year into a harmful process for decades to come.
Also to be clear, nobody should think they are safe from ending up in these facilities. Many citizens, residents whose immigration records were clean, and people who broke no criminal laws have been dragged into ICE harm centers. The statements of Trump, Miller, Loomer and many others in the US administration about all Latinos, or all Somalians or all Haitians, as well as attacks on birtrhright citizenship and naturalized citizens plus routine calls for physical harms to Trump’s political opponents should make us wary that the harms are not only intended to immigrants. The little red dot is on all of our foreheads!
The data that this article analyzes is provided at this link by the very helpful SaltBox team that has been doing a bang up job voluntarily monitoring the ICE harm house expansion on the national level. There are basically two categories of warehouses – those that are being referred to as for “processing” with an objective normalcy of 3 – 7 day stay and other longer term harm centers with the objective of 60 day – stay – according to ICE. Of course everything in ICE documents are not guided by laws or regulations so the numbers being thrown about are for marketing consumption only – the true picture of length of stay, how many and who they cram into the facilities and what ends up happening to the victims can morph many times in the days ahead.
For our purposes we are using the likely fictitious ICE marketing numbers to get a better sense as to the overall impact of the increased snatch rate to feed the appetite of the additional harm houses now that the USA is looking to harm millions more of citizens and residents within the USA every year!
We assessed the short-term capacity impact under a different lens as the long term harm facility capacity expansions. In so doing the caution is there is no true line between the two uses and it is very likely all of the warehouses will be used for the two different and many other harmful and likely even lethal purposes. Trump has proclaimed that he has the right to execute his political opponents. Hegseth’s conflict with Anthropic is over using AI-driven drone lethal arms for that very purpose.
This article is assessing the increases to the number of people that can be harmed with the increased harmful capacity. For many the harm can lead to deportation, some might be released without being deported and others might be harmed in other ways and some might be indefinitely kept in harmful restraint. Many are already dying and it is likely that trend will continue to grow, in the harm facilities.
The source data from Salt Box is at this link.
At THIS link is the FightBackBetter pull of the list of facilities and their capacities and types with some capacity calculations.
THE WAREHOUSES ICE LABELS AS ‘PROCESSING’ FACILITIES WITH EXPECTED STAY ACCORDING TO ICE OF 3 – 7 DAYS
There are 3 sets of statuses from the original list of intended purchases – some of the sales have been completed with the properties already transferring to ICE possession including NJ’s Roxbury facility. Others are cases where the sale is still in motion and the third category are cases where the sales fell through or failed for whatever reason including those cases where popular opposition defeated the potential sale. While the third category, canceled acquisition attempts, are to be celebrated it is very possible that other prospective sites will replace those from US’s first top choice list of potential purchases. Currently there is no shortage of warehouses on the market.
Looking at the warehouses designated as “processing” facilities, they initially set out to obtain 18 such facilities with a total capacity of 24.5K, according to the numbers provided by ICE. Of that number, completed purchase deals account for a capacity of 9,500. Those deals in motion account for 6K more harm slots and 8000 such slots were eliminated by the intended purchases that failed. Keep in mind – ICE is referring to the capacity as the “number of beds” but in reality according to testimony across the USA, victims are currently in some cases dozens in a single large room on the floor with an overflowing toilet in the middle of the human victims. This description has been reported numerous times from numerous locations. It is very possible through overcrowding the amount of capacity expansion of the warehouse attainment can be much more sizable.
In order to estimate the capacity of the short-term facilities FightBackBetter uses the two numbers ICE is giving for the processing harm centers. ICE in its claim sheets (I would not refer to them as “fact” sheets) claims the processing facilities will only keep its harm victims for a range of 3 – 7 days. We are using annual factor based upon a 7 day turnaround for the lower capacity range and a 3 day turnaround as the higher capacity range. The lower range is by multiplying the warehouse harm capacity X 52 (7 into 365) and for the higher range number X 112 (3 into 365),. Admittedly these are fast and loose numbers also based upon no overcrowding, accurate occupancy capacity from ICE and upon their 3 – 7 day turn around – so very rough.
So the ICE intent was to add processing capacity by 24.5K which would result in the ability to harm 1.222 million to 2.632 million more per year than are currently being harmed at all of ICE’s current harm centers. Understand that is not just for the next year – but for every year going forward. It would take just over two years to get to the ominous sounding 6 million figure. In the 3rd and 4th year – more millions will be taken to the industrial harm centers – eventually 10s of millions – like after 4 or 5 years maybe.
So of that original intent, they already increased the capacity, by already purchasing harm / death houses by 9,500 – applying the processing time range that amounts to the ability to harm 494K to 1.064 million – harmed in the already purchased facilties per year based upon ICE turnaround information, no overcrowding, etc – year after year – in the years ahead. Still in the running – ICE purchases still with potential: they can add another 6K harm slots and thus the abiity to harm an additional 312K to 672 K every year. The total of ICE additional capacity already obtained by ICE and still in the running thus ranges 806K to 1.736 M per year.
Time and our fight will tell if the US Trump or post-Trump administration follows through with replacing the sales that did not go through by making offers at a second set of buldings – many of their current vendors including Dalfen – Goldman Sachs and PNK Group have more for sale – PNK Group even one in NJ!
Very much admittedly I am using ICE figures that we know to be false – since ICE lies about everything – and my estimates are fast and loose. Overcrowding, which is extremely common, can push the numbers much higher. Slower turnaround in the so-called processing facilities can reduce numbers. Using the long-term facilties as also processing facilities can increase the numbers also. The numbers are genocidally high in any case and can not be accounted for by any wildest fever dream about any immigration issue. The government is intending to come for more than immigrants clearly with these permanent facilities. Most people even those opposing ICE are balking at admitting that to themselves – there have been a couple of objections to my use of the term “pogrom“.
I have used that term to shake some awareness into people but it is also what this editor believes is truly what we are headed for! The massive numbers can not be explained as a response to any immigration issue – even in the wildest MAGA fever dream.
THE LONG TERM FACILITIES – INDEFINITE DETENTION WITHOUT CHARGE
We need to put the long-term facilities capacity expansion under a different lens. There is no useful purpose for expanding long term detention. The very permanence of purchasing, not leasing the buildings and of permanent warehouse structures means that this government is intending to permanently harmfully restrain increasing segments of the population. The likelihood exists that the longer term harm centers will also expand the short term processing so they will increase the numbers of the above category due to the dual use of those faciltiies. The visa versa is true – the so called processing centers can also be used for permanent or indefinite harmful restraint of humans. There is no monitoring of such matters now and no likelihood the ability for watchdog monitoring will be a feature.
The other impact of the long-term facilities is that they provide capacity for the US to indefinitely detain its own people. The absolute lawlessness of the ICE crackdown has led to illegal incarceration of citizens, residents who had no problem with their immigration status and others who were not held for any legal reason. The lawlessness will be litigated for years to come especially if we reckon with power relations between government and the people. Expanding the permanent detention capacity that the long-term facilities provide is also quite ominous – it is an indication of the government’s intention to implement an era of permanent massive repression of the population. That is the danger of expanding the long-term harm facilities – now for the numbers.
The original intended expanded capacity for the permanent harm restraint facilities was to expand by 81K, assuming no overcrowding. 48K of that capacity fell through due to 5 warehouse sales that did not occur. As mentioned, time and our fight will tell if the US adds more potentials to the list. 24.5 K slots have already been added (3 warehouses purchased by ICE) and another 8.5K slots – on another warehouse sale still in motion – assuming no overcrowding which is a false assumption – the true permanent capacity increase is much greater. These numbers are based upon no overcrowding and the rampant overcrowding violations across the whole nation suggest the numbers are higher. While ICE is claiming that the facilities will get people out after 60 days, the reality is it creates the capacity for indefinite detention of for now 30K more than already provided in ICE harm facilities. ICE is beyond accountability in the USA and the “immigrant” crackdown has already become an excuse for drumming up support for cleansing and pogroms against ethnic and racial groups as well as a snitch culture and similar repression against opponents or war, ICE and other repression, genocide and social murder underway in the USA.
BASE OUR FIGHT AGAINST THE HARM HOUSES ON HUMANITY
There are many reasons to oppose the focus the US now has on building harm centers to intentionally hurt its own people. First and foremost is because of the terror and human rights violations – and lethality. We will see how much, but there is some already and the understanding that government should not build infrastructure to harm its own people by the millions every year. Sewer lines, water lines, tax collections, armed vehicles full of your neighbors and work colleagues every day scaring the children, having to explain to them that Trump (where that face has been!) must be supported even though his policies are the reason all these people being put in the huge tomb-shaped building – all of that matters too – but if you are supportive of rounding up another 2 million people a year for round ups sake – you will have to remember your silence when you see what happens next and permanent harmful restraint for dubious reason 40 – 80 K more than already so impacted by ICE terror is OK for you then you are already accepting the condition of your local inconvenience and the reasons for it.
Both increasing tremendously the total number of humans that ICE will harmfully restrain annually (initial intent by 1.2 to 2.6 million) across the USA and by increasing the capacity to permanently harmfully restrain without charge or cause indefinitely 88 thousand (their original intent) are daunting realities to entertain. That information must be processed together with the routine statements from government officials calling for violence against opponents of MAGA policy, ICE agents participating in surveillance of MAGA opponents and entering them into a database as domestic terrorists, the National Security Presidential Memorandum – 7 blueprint for classifying people as “domestic terrorists” based upon opposition to MAGA per 10 opinion categories, the controversy between Hegseth and Anthropic over the US intention to use AI decision making for action decisions in taking lethal action by unmanned drones against civilians – all of it together spells a reign of government terror, violence including lethal violence.
Also look at the wanton slaughter being carried out by the United States against the Iranian people and the exposure of US GIs to dying in a reckless destructive and pointless slaughter fest – the USA is on a mass murdering spree and we are also in the targets for mayhem, harm and even lethality.
The ICE harm capacity increases show this crackdown not only about immigrants – the US is intending a permanent state of harming millions of Americans in the streets, at industrial harm centers – on top of all the other forms of social mass murder occurring at ever accelerating rates with the degradations of across the board of services, due to climate disaster, ecological destruction, lack of health care, dismantling of regulations and enforcement and undermining of anything and everything intended to improve the lives of our people,
We need to understand all of the moving parts and place the harmful restraint capacity expansion in proper context. The ruling class has decided it wants to decrease the population for many reasons and there are many wheels turning toward that direction – the question is what can and what will we do to turn it around!
WHAT HAPPENS TO EVERY HUMAN THAT GETS PUT INTO ICE CUSTODY:
