Unsettled: Immigration in Turbulent Times
Season 2, Episode 5: Immigration Detention
This episode looks at immigration detention in the second Trump administration. The administration has been greatly expanding detention facilities by buying warehouses to be converted into eight large-scale detention facilities, with the goal of having these facilities operational by the end of September of this year. The administration intends to use military procurement to speed up this transformation.
Guest Speakers
Mekela A. Goehring
Laura P. Lunn
Hosts
Show Notes
Key statutes on immigration detention:
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network annual report
Two decisions (with conflicting outcomes) on administration efforts to expand mandatory detention:
- Maldonado Bautista v. Santa Cruz (C.D. Cal. December 18, 2025)
- Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi (5th Cir. Feb. 6, 2026)
Professor Steve Vladeck’s commentary on mandatory detention, transferring detainees, and forum shopping
POLITICO tracker of federal judges’ decisions on expansion of mandatory detention
Professor Matthew Boaz’s Lawfare article on third country removals
New Yorker article on the arrest of Congresswoman LaMonica McIver