ICE detention facility owner sees big opportunity in AI camps

To house the hundreds or thousands of temporary workers needed to build an AI data center, developers are increasingly relying on temporary villages known as man camps.

This style of camp became widespread as housing for men working in remote oil fields. For example, when a bitcoin mining facility in rural Dickens County, Texas, is being converted into a 1.6-gigawatt data center, Bloomberg reported that its workers are living in gray housing units with access to a gym, laundromat, game rooms, and a cafeteria that grills steaks to order.

A company called Target Hospitality has signed multiple contracts worth a total of $132 million to build and operate the Dickens County camp, which could eventually accommodate more than 1,000 workers.

Target clearly sees the US data center building boom as its most profitable growth opportunity, with chief commercial officer Troy Schrenk calling it “the largest, most actionable pipeline I’ve ever seen.”

Target also owns the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, which houses families detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Court filings alleged that the center’s food was infested with worms and mold, and that the children suffered from allergies and special diets.