Incoming Trump admin eyes massive expansion of immigration detention: 'He will deliver'

President-elect Trump said during the campaign that he intends to launch a historic mass-deportation campaign in the wake of the historic migrant crisis at the southern border. It is a promise that he and top officials have repeated since his election victory last week.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the transition team told Fox News Digital: "The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver." 

A source familiar with the plans confirmed the report. NBC reported that the plan is to double the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) beds allocated by Congress, but the source said that the intention is to significantly increase the number of beds, and that a doubling of capacity was too specific.

There are currently a number of ICE facilities that are not at full capacity, or that could have capacity expanded. Some cases are unique, like a facility in Adelanto, Calif., that has been largely shuttered due to a COVID-era court order.

Republicans have repeatedly hammered the Biden administration for a lower level of deportations, even amid a historic surge of migrants into the U.S. interior. Critics of the Trump plan have claimed that the cost would be too high, but immigration hawks have said that it is cheaper than allowing them to stay.

"No. Absolutely not," she said when asked whether  state police would help with deportations.

"With Donald Trump, we will secure the border and restore safety to American communities so that families will again have the opportunity to pursue the American dream," she said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Trump announced that Stephen Miller, who spearheaded many immigration policies in Trump's first term, will serve as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser.