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WillScot (WSC+2.94%) Holdings stock inched up on Thursday after the modular buildings and portable storage containers company was reported to be in talks with the federal government to house undocumented immigrants.
Semafor, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has met with Phoenix, Arizona-based WillScot about housing detained undocumented migrants in its mobile structures. WillScot makes portable offices, classrooms, restrooms, and other configurable units. Often, its structures are used on construction sites.
President Donald Trump’s administration aims to return “millions and millions” of undocumented migrants back to their countries of origin. More than 11 million people without legal immigration status live in the U.S. as of 2022, the last year data is available. About 8.3 million of them participate in the U.S. economy.
Over the past few weeks, ICE has conducted a slew of enforcement actions — several of them public, including one broadcast by Phil McGraw, also known as “Dr. Phil.” However, daily arrests are roughly at the same level they were at under former President Barack Obama, Politico reports.
The White House on Wednesday said that more than 400 migrants were released due to several reasons, including a lack of capacity. On Tuesday, the first flight carrying migrants to Guantanamo Bay arrived at the naval base in Cuba, where the Trump administration plans to send up to 30,000 people.
Currently, the base can hold just 120 migrants. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has suggested that the base’s golf course could be converted to build housing for 6,000 migrants. Semafor reports that WillScot’s buildings could help house migrants at either Guantanamo Bay or along the U.S. southern border.
WillScot’s stock rose almost 3% in trading Thursday afternoon on the news. Shares are up by more than 10% year-to-date. The company reports its fourth-quarter earnings later this month.
Although such a deal is good for WillScot, it’s bad for private prison operators, who were expected to be a major beneficiary of Trump’s deportation plans.
“This is, to us, an unprecedented opportunity,” GEO Group (GEO-3.22%) Executive Chairman George Zoley said in a November earnings call.
GEO, ICE’s largest contractor, has about 13,500 beds for migrants, although executives have said it could scale up to more than 31,000 beds in the short term, Business Insider reported. CoreCivic (CXW-2.78%) told The Wall Street Journal it could quickly bring its detention capacity to 25,000 beds by bringing unused facilities back online.
CoreCivic stock has grown by more than 32% over the past 12 months, backed by a post-election boom, but has shed more than 14% over the past 30 days. Shares are down by more than 2% on Thursday.
GEO stock is down by almost 3% in trading Thursday, bringing its month-long decline to 5%. But the stock has exploded by 145% over the last year.
On November 5, 2024, the day before the U.S. election, GEO’s stock closed at $15.13 a pop. At its recent peak on Jan. 17, shares were worth more than $35 each, but are now about $27 per share.