Coming soon from the people behind ICE detention camps: cities of data center companies

Remember when they were still trying to sell us AI as a force for good? Remember the panels and keynotes? Recall the claims that the injection of this still-nascent technology into all aspects of our lives was aimed at the pursuit of noble ends such as cure diseases and chatting with extraterrestrial beings? Those initial promises are now mostly hazy, dark memories, flickering through our collective snake oil hangover. But as more and more American cities emerge from fugue state and addressing AI data centers as an urgent environmental and existential threat, the other side of the fight is moving full steam ahead. This past week has been one of the most “unmasked” of the AI ​​industry so far, with consequences of the agreement with the Pentagon OpenAI There are still ongoing and enthusiastic reports about what the technology is like.”turbocharger” of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

But for those who have not yet connected the dots between these companies and the rise of global fascism, a clarifying connection TechCrunch taken from a recent Bloomberg story helps explain everything.

Paint a painting taken directly from a Taylor Sheridan SeriesThe Bloomberg article details the rise of “man camps” built to facilitate the construction of data centers. Amenity-filled pop-up villages in remote areas used to serve as a carrot for oil industry contractors. Since then, the model has been expanded to facilitate crypto mining and, now, prop up the AI ​​industry.

As many of these extractive industry workers come from military backgrounds, the men’s camp is intentionally similar to that of a Forward Operating Base (FOB). Far from the traditional type of company town that tries to siphon off workers’ wages through vouchers, these men’s camps offer free steak dinners and simulated rounds of golf to thugs returning from a long day of construction in the desert, Bloomberg reports.

The camp featured in Bloomberg is being built to house and entertain more than 1,000 workers needed for the construction of a 1.6 gigawatt data center in Dickens County, Texas. The shanty town will cost taxpayers $132 million in government contracts paid to a company called Target Hospitality, according to TechCrunch. Although the Bloomberg story glosses over the fact that Target “also works for the government in immigration detention,” TechCrunch went on to name the facility as the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, which is south of San Antonio. Reopening after Target signed a 5-year contract with CoreCivic As of March 2025, the Dilley facility has already become notorious for its treatment of minors in custody: reports from a measles outbreakpiercing 911 calls about children having trouble breathingand food infested with worms just a sample of the controversies that arose during the center’s first year of operation.

With tech companies budgeting a staggering amount $700 billion for data capacity expansion It’s only 2026 and industry evangelists swear they’re just getting started, it’s no wonder Target Hospitality wants to try to wash away the stench of that ICE deal with a pivot toward data centers. It’s a rich future that the company’s chief commercial officer, Troy Schrenk, describes as “the largest, most viable pipeline I’ve ever seen.”

Will Target Hospitality’s gravy train continue to roll smoothly as an increasingly angry and shameless population Do you make it clear that you don’t want ICE or data centers near your communities? I guess we’ll all find out together.