Why the Biden administration is closing the largest ICE detention center in the US

The Biden administration is closing the nation’s largest ICE detention center — despite some 7.4 million migrants remaining free in the US while awaiting court hearings or deportation.

The South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley, Texas — about 75 miles southwest of San Antonio — is capable of holding 2,400 migrants.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it will replace the facility with 1,600 new beds at other centers in the region.

Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office director John Fabbricatore told The Post that the decision shows not just a “lapse in judgment, but a deliberate act of amnesty through inaction.”

He said that the closure shows Biden’s executive order restricting most migrants from claiming asylum is “nothing more than political theatre aimed at appeasing certain voter bases rather than addressing the real issues at hand.”

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Migrants are held in ICE detention centers while officials screen them and decide whether to release them into the US pending court hearings or deport them.

It’s not clear how many migrants are currently at the center, or what will happen to them once the facility is shuttered later this summer.

ICE said it is closing the South Texas Family Residential Center because it is run by a private prison contractor and is “the most expensive facility in the national detention network.”

The agency said adding beds to other facilities will be cheaper.

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The facility, which opened during the Obama administration, was originally used to detain families, but has just been housing single adults since 2021.

The Biden administration has stopped using several privately-run detention facilities even as its need for bed space continues to rise.

Fox News reported last week that there are at least 7.4 million migrants being tracked in the US, including those who were released while awaiting court dates and those who have missed court appearances and are wanted for deportation.

ICE acting director Patrick J. Lechleitner said that the closure “will provide an overall increase in bedspace and operate at or above the FY24 appropriated 41,500 minimum bed requirement while maximizing removal flights.”

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“We continue to evaluate contracts to ensure we are financially responsible and can increase removal flights and detention bed space capacity to support the dynamic immigration landscape while operating within the budget provided by Congress,” he said.

The news of the closure comes as the Biden administration attempted to toughen restrictions on asylum for migrants crossing the southern border illegally.

The Biden administration began implementing the new policy on June 5, in an attempt to slash the number of migrants who are eligible for asylum, and turn them away quickly.

The Biden administration’s latest asylum restrictions will only pause if and when illegal crossings dip to an average of 1,500 per day for seven consecutive days.

While the number of migrants crossing illegally since the order has been put in place has dipped — they are nowhere near that level.

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