Only hours after Donald Trump was elected president, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put gears in motion to expand its surveillance capabilities, likely in anticipation of the president-elect’s promise for the largest deportation scheme in history.

ICE published a Request for Information on November 6 seeking information about expanding its Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, or ISAP, part of the government’s Alternatives to Detention program, according to Wired.

Currently, ISAP monitors around 200,000 undocumented immigrants using a combination of ankle monitors, GPS tracking smart watches, and apps that use biometric facial recognition software.

ICE’s current contractor for ISAP, B.I. Incorporated, is owned by private prison company Geo Group, which was the single biggest winner in the stock market the day after Trump was elected. Geo Group’s $2.4 billion contract with ICE is set to expire next year.

But ICE’s Request for Information stated that it isn’t a request for proposals from vendors that can provide the tools for ISAP. Rather, it’s a way for the company to signal its anticipated needs in the coming months, “thereby delivering capabilities faster” and encouraging competition among potential vendors.

The posting sought industry information about monitoring devices, as well as other services that would aid in Trump’s plan to rip 20 million immigrants out of their homes and communities. As of 2022, there were only 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, but Trump has said that he intends to also remove immigrants who have obtained temporary protected status. There are roughly 860,000 people in the U.S. under temporary protected status.

One request was for information about “participant coordination services,” meaning physical space, staff, and administrative capabilities for monitoring large numbers of people. The posting also requested information about “community services,” including legal assistance, therapeutic and psychosocial support, medical services, food, and clothing.

While the details of Trump’s “bloody” deportation scheme are unclear, they do involve camps for staging deportations.

ICE was already planning to expand ISAP’s parent program before Trump won. In a 2023 notice, ICE said that Alternatives to Detention would be rebranded and expanded to monitor every single nondetained person awaiting a court hearing or deportation—around 5.7 million people, according to the agency.

If ICE is actually able to expand its capabilities to monitor nearly six million people, it will have increased its capacity by 3,000 percent, according to Wired. The potential industry boom already has private prison owners sniffing the air. In an earnings call last week, Geo Group’s CEO George Zoley called a second Trump administration “an unprecedented opportunity.”

While the private prison industry stands to make billions off Trump’s deportation plans, it’s worth noting that ripping millions of workers out of the country will crater the economy.

Last week, Trump said he would have “no choice” but to carry out the mass deportations he promised on the campaign trail. “It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not—really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag,” he said.

Donald Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said she would consider a possible appointment from the president-elect to be White House press secretary “very seriously.”

Mediaite reported Tuesday that Habba was a top candidate for the position, citing four sources. On Fox News Tuesday night, Sean Hannity asked if there was any truth to the report, and initially, she tried to deflect.

“I’d leave it to the president and three people that are on my board of directors: That’s Luke, Chloe, and Parker, my children,” Habba said. “Everybody’ll know in time.”

Hannity pressed further, asking if there were any “discussions about it,” and Habba again deflected, pivoting to Trump’s “amazing Cabinet” and the work of his transition team. Hannity then directly asked what Habba would do if Trump asked her to serve in his administration.

“I am very loyal to President Trump. I would think about it. Very seriously,” Habba replied.

As one of Trump’s attorneys, Habba is known for making excuses for Trump’s behavior during his trials in the past year, as well as making very noticeable mistakes in court. One day during Trump’s E. Jean Carroll defamation trial, she was reprimanded 12 times by the judge in the case.

If Trump chooses her as his press secretary, though, her obfuscation and willingness to explain away Trump’s rash actions would probably be an asset in the role. The job entails a lot of spin in presenting what the president wants to the American public and media, and painting Trump in a good light is where she excels. In addition, she would make history if Trump selects her as the first ever Arab American, and first Iraqi American press secretary.

Professional MAGA content creators somehow think that they have a realistic chance of landing a senior role in President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming Cabinet.

Politico is reporting that the content creators—some of whom have no professional political experience whatsoever—have been bolstered by the website “Nominees for the People,” Robert F. Kennedy’s genius idea to publicly crowdsource and vote on names for Cabinet nominations. Alt-right grifter Charlie Kirk leads votes for secretary of education, while former Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe leads Labor Department votes. The beggars, however, have much lower profiles.

Content creator Melissa Rein Lively has already put “Future Trump White House Press Secretary” in her Instagram bio. “I’m a hair away from the White House. I do think I’m going to get it,” said Lively, who gained fame after destroying a Covid-19 mask stand at Target in 2020 while going on an unhinged rant. “My sphere of influence goes far beyond people who are paper pushers on the Trump campaign. I work with........

© New Republic