Diamondback Correctional Facility
Detention for Dollars
How Oklahoma Cashes In on Immigration Detention
After sitting idle for over a decade, a for-profit prison in rural Western Oklahoma is now a key hub in the Trump Administration’s plan to carry out the largest mass-deportation effort in U.S. history.
Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma. GREG CONSTANTINE
Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga once held out-of-state inmates until it closed in 2010 after Arizona prison officials opted not to renew the contract.
Then the Oklahoma Department of Corrections signed a lucrative deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in September 2025. The state agency would act as a middleman for private prison contractor CoreCivic, allowing ICE to rapidly house immigration detainees at Diamondback without a competitive bidding process typically required for federal contracts. CoreCivic is making millions from the deal. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections and the small Oklahoma town of Watonga are also receiving payments.
By the end of August, Diamondback held 1,923 detainees, making it one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country. About 86% of those detained in Diamondback have no criminal history, according to figures from ICE. The facility can hold up to 2,160 prisoners.
A rare look inside the business of immigration detention
Invoices, bank records, contracts, utility bills and other documents obtained through open records requests show how CoreCivic, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and the small town of Watonga are making money from the incarceration of immigrants in Diamondback.
Reporters requested additional documents reflecting any payments after March 2026, but the Department of Corrections repeatedly claimed it didn’t have any more records. A Department of Corrections official said at a September meeting that the agency hadn’t received any payments from ICE since April.
How the money moves
ICE contracts with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, which serves as the intermediary for payments to CoreCivic, the company that owns and operates Diamondback.
October 2025 – March 2026How the deal works
The Department of Corrections signed an Intergovernmental Service Agreement with ICE in September 2025 to house immigration detainees at Diamondback Correctional Facility.
The Department of Corrections has a separate management agreement with CoreCivic to operate Diamondback. The state agency is responsible for monitoring CoreCivic’s compliance with federal detention standards and “other administrative functions.” Each month, the Department of Corrections receives $833,333 to perform these duties.
When CoreCivic announced the five-year Diamondback contract in October 2025, the company estimated the prison could generate about $100 million in annual revenue once fully operational.
Six months
From an empty prison to $8.3 million in monthly revenue
The money started moving before detainees even arrived. Public records over the first six months of the contract show how Diamondback began generating revenue as ICE detention increased.
*This figure is an estimate from documents obtained from TRAC, Syracuse University.
**This figure is based on documents obtained from the Department of Corrections and the city of Watonga.
See the money move month by month
Open any month to see the original invoices, detailed billing templates, payments and state financial records documenting the transactions.
October 2025
Avg. detained / day
0
Total payment
$2,000,000
OKDOC admin fee
$833,333
CoreCivic
$1,166,666
View records
Diamondback had not yet begun housing ICE detainees. Records show a fixed monthly payment of $2 million from ICE as the facility prepares to reopen.
The records
November 2025
Avg. detained / day
0
Total payment
$2,003,854
OKDOC admin fee
$833,333
CoreCivic
$1,170,521
View records
The November records show a payment of just over $2 million, even though the facility had not yet begun housing ICE detainees.
The records
December 2025
Avg. detained / day
64 average detainees per day *
Total payment
$2,186,941
OKDOC admin fee
$833,333
CoreCivic
$1,353,608
View records
ICE detention began at Diamondback in late December. The records show detention bed charges appearing for the first time alongside an increase in the facility’s fixed monthly payment.
The records
January 2026
Avg. detained / day
434 **
Total payment
$4,460,042
OKDOC admin fee
$833,333
CoreCivic
$3,622,854
View records
Hundreds of immigrants begin arriving at Diamondback.
The records
February 2026
Avg. detained / day
685 **
Total payment
$5,041,836
OKDOC admin fee
$833,333
CoreCivic
$4,208,503
View records
ICE pays more than $5 million as the detainee population continues to climb.
The records
March 2026
Avg. detained / day
699 **
Total payment
$8,294,050
OKDOC admin fee
$833,333
CoreCivic
$7,460,716
View records
Monthly revenue has more than quadrupled from October.
The records
Local money
Diamondback’s money reaches beyond the prison
Watonga, Oklahoma. GREG CONSTANTINE
How Watonga gets paid
Every month, CoreCivic has agreed to pay the City of Watonga $1 per day for each immigrant detained in Diamondback.
Watonga also receives water and sewage payments from CoreCivic.
Open the Watonga agreement ↗
As detention grows, so does local revenue
We calculated the average daily population by taking the total monthly number of detainees CoreCivic reported to the city of Watonga and dividing that figure by the number of days in the month.