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United States immigration authorities are planning to secure long-term detention and transportation capacity for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across Minnesota and four neighboring states, according to an internal planning document reviewed by WIRED.
The document forecasts ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations spending between $20 million and $50 million to secure jail space and establish a privately run transfer hub in Minnesota capable of moving detainees anywhere “within a 400-mile radius.”
The network is forecast to reach beyond Minnesota, where ICE agents are carrying out aggressive raids, into North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska, giving the agency latitude to transfer as many as 1,000 people detained around the Twin Cities at any time up to hundreds of miles away.
The plans were formed ahead of what Minnesota officials and civil rights groups describe as an “unprecedented deployment” and a “federal invasion” in court filings that seek to halt what the US government calls Operation Metro Surge. The operation that has sent thousands of armed agents into the Twin Cities and has been marked by fatal use of force, street-level stops, dangerous vehicle interdictions, and mass detentions sweeping up US citizens.
The deployment has sparked repeated protests in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, including marches to downtown hotels where demonstrators said federal agents were staying, and confrontations that have drawn arrests and widespread use of tear gas and chemical irritants. In court, a federal judge set restrictions on federal agents participating in Metro Surge from using force against peaceful protesters and observers. The Trump administration is appealing the ruling.
The backlash has spread well beyond Minnesota after organizers called for an “ICE Out for Good” weekend of action, with more than 1,000 protests and rallies nationwide.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The surge came amid months of efforts by ICE to anchor a regional transfer hub in the Upper Midwest, with federal planning documents from last year pointing to a prison in Appleton, Minnesota, as a potential site. Those records outlined a nationwide expansion of detention capacity and a move to mega-facilities that can house a thousand people or more.
Internal planning and subsequent public reporting in August 2025 placed Appleton’s long-shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility at the center of that push: a ready-made, 1,600-bed prison that could absorb detainees taken into custody across the region. CoreCivic, which owns the facility, acknowledged at the time that it was pursuing federal opportunities, while Appleton officials said no contract was in place.
Over time, the prospect of resurrecting the dormant prison hardened into a local conflict. Clergy and immigrant advocates organized against reopening the facility in October, warning it would bind a rural town to mass-detention decisions made elsewhere and normalize long-distance transfers preceding deportation. Supporters countered that reopening the prison would bring back jobs that were lost after it closed in 2010.
In a statement, CoreCivic spokesperson Brian Todd says the company continues to “ensure the facility is properly maintained” and “explore opportunities with our government partners for which this site could be a viable solution.”
Under federal acquisition rules, ICE may proceed to issuing a solicitation or directly awarding a contract in the coming months. Planning documents show it anticipates an award in early 2026.
Appleton city administrator John Olinger tells WIRED he has had no contact with ICE or CoreCivic since the matter came up last fall. “The city has no authority to reject the plan,” he says. “The prison is allowed within the zone and thus does not need any approval.”
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