ICE Establishing National Call Center for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

Sat Nov 08 2025 03:20:52 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to open a call center aimed at assisting law enforcement agencies in locating unaccompanied migrant children entering the U.S. illegally.

ICE has announced its intention to establish a national call center in Nashville, Tennessee, to aid local and state law enforcement in searching for unaccompanied migrant children. The agency aims to handle thousands of daily calls as part of a broader strategy amid heightened immigration enforcement efforts. Alongside this initiative, ICE is also seeking vendors for transporting detainees across Texas, tying into a new state law mandating ICE partnerships.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is set to launch a national call center in Nashville, Tennessee, specifically designed to assist local and state law enforcement agencies in locating unaccompanied migrant children who entered the country without authorization.

According to recent federal contracting documents, ICE identified an ‘immediate need’ for this 24-hour call center, indicating it could manage between 6,000 to 7,000 calls each day pertaining to locating these children.

The goal is to have the call center operational by June, with plans to finalize vendor selection by the end of March. ICE is currently exploring options to maximize call efficiency in this large-scale operation.

In addition to the call center, ICE has issued a notice seeking vendors capable of transporting detainees across Texas. This move aligns with a new Texas law that requires counties to partner with ICE, further emphasizing the agency’s focus on immigration enforcement.

The call center initiative and transport programs are part of broader efforts by the federal government, which has allocated $170 billion towards immigration and border security efforts, especially following the passage of significant legislation by the Republican Party.

These developments come amid an increasing number of partnerships between federal and local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws and address the influx of unaccompanied minors, who are defined by the U.S. government as individuals under 18, without lawful immigration status, and without a parent or guardian in the country.

While the Nashville area has been chosen as the planned site for the call center, it remains uncertain why this specific location was selected. CoreCivic Inc., a major private detention contractor, is based there and has previously been linked to multiple ICE contracts.

Alongside these decentralization efforts, ICE requires transport vendors to be able to move detainees from various locations, including hospitals and traffic stops, within tight timeframes, representing an intensifying focus on managing migrant populations effectively.