reichwingwatch A new report from U.S. Senator Adam Schiff says federal immigration agencies have committed at least $144 million in contracts for weapons, ammunition, and related equipment during the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration. The purchases include AR-style rifles, pistols, ammunition, and so-called “less-lethal” weapons such as tear gas, pepper spray, and TASERs for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  The spending surge coincides with a sweeping expansion of the federal immigration detention system overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. Government planning documents and investigative reports show ICE purchasing and converting large industrial warehouses across the United States into detention facilities capable of holding thousands of migrants or political prisoners at a time.  Some of the proposed sites are massive. Facilities being developed in states including Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Maryland could each house 5,000 to 10,000 detainees, while smaller “regional processing centers” may hold 1,000 to 1,500 people for short stays before deportation.  Ryan Schwank, a former ICE instructor told members of Congress that new agents were effectively being trained to ignore Fourth Amendment limits on searches and home entries. He also alleged that the agency cut hundreds of hours of training, including classes on legal limits and proper use of force. Equally disturbing, an internal memo reported by the Associated Press said immigration officers could forcibly enter homes without a judge-signed warrant. Many legal experts argue that entering a home without a judicial warrant could violate the Fourth Amendment, which traditionally provides strong protections for private residences. The combination of rapidly expanding detention infrastructure, disregard for constitutional rights, and a sharp increase in weapon purchases raises concerns about the growing scale and militarization of Trump’s authoritarian secret police force inside the United States. View all 677 comments