ICE Plans to Hold People in Locked Vans While Its Officers Make More Arrests
by Jerome London · Thought CatalogUpdated 37 minutes ago, September 30, 2026
ICE’s proposed transport teams in Pennsylvania and Delaware would keep people in locked vans until the vehicles are full or local enforcement operations end. Armed contractors would wait near officers making arrests, then take custody of detainees so those officers could stay in the field. The government documents set no limit on how long someone could remain in a van.
ICE is seeking 12 additional teams for daily operations: 3 in Philadelphia, 3 in York, 2 in Pittsburgh, 2 in Dover, and 1 each in Williamsport and Pike County. Each vehicle would have at least 2 armed contract officers, locked doors and windows, and a barrier separating detainees from the front compartment. In its Pittsburgh plans, ICE says keeping deportation officers in the field would help them make more arrests.
The proposal doesn’t say when detainees would get food, water or medical screening, how they’d use a bathroom, or whether they could contact family or lawyers. A separate rule generally limits bus transportation for women to 10 hours, except in emergencies; it doesn’t cover vans. Detention expert Eunice Cho told USA TODAY the vans could also make it harder for families and attorneys to locate people in custody.
The plans appear in a solicitation for contractors tied to a broader detention expansion. No award had been posted as of Sept. 29, and ICE hasn’t disclosed the proposal’s cost. Former acting ICE director John Sandweg told USA TODAY the approach is about the number of arrests officers can make: “It’s about volume.”
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