The Trump Administration Has Directed FEMA to Use Half a Billion Dollars to Build Concentration Camps for Immigrants Across the United States

Jul 26, 2025

Some of us are old enough to remember a favorite conspiracy theory on the far right which held that the real purpose of FEMA was to build concentration camps. Now a far-right administration is fulfilling this theory, directing FEMA to fund detention camps that are notoriously abusive, have no clear legal status, and target immigrants but also sweep up U.S. citizens.

NBC News describes this directive:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to send $608 million to states to construct immigrant detention centers as part of the Trump administration’s push to expand capacity to hold migrants.
FEMA is starting a “detention support grant program” to cover the cost of states building temporary facilities, according to an agency announcement. States have until August 8 to apply for the funds, according to the post. …
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said on Friday morning that the state would apply for FEMA reimbursement to pay for its new immigrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” DHS officials said this summer the facility will cost an estimated $450 million annually.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said DHS will tap FEMA’s $650-million shelter and services program to fund Florida’s facility.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was formed in 1979 to provide funding to help people affected by natural disasters. To use it to funnel half a billion dollars into the systematic violation of human rights in black sites is a complete perversion of the agency’s mandate.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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