Trump border czar Tom Homan appeared to have no idea Wednesday when asked who was behind the name “Speedway Slammer,” given to a new migrant detention center in Indiana.
“I don’t name the facilities,” Homan told reporters.
“I don’t want the names taking over the great work they’re doing,” Homan said of immigration officers. “This is serious work and it’s dangerous work.”
The Trump administration is working to build out a vast network of migrant detention centers across the country, and recently opened a facility in the Florida Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” It was constructed in weeks, using hundreds of tents, trailers, and other temporary facilities. It’s set to hold as many as 3,000 detainees.
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X: “COMING SOON to Indiana: The Speedway Slammer. Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the state of Indiana to expand detention bed space by 1,000 beds. Thanks to @GovBraun for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country. If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Indiana’s Speedway Slammer. Avoid arrest and self deport now using the @CBP Home App.”
Then, the official DHS account on X shared an image of what appeared to be an AI-generated Indy car with Immigration and Customs Enforcement branding. The car was branded with the number 5, which has been used by the only Mexican IndyCar driver, Pato O’Ward, since 2020.
On Wednesday, Penske Entertainment, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said the company did not want its intellectual property used alongside the detention center.
“We were unaware of plans to incorporate our imagery as part of the announcement,” the company told IndyStar in a statement. “Consistent with our approach to public policy and political issues, we are communicating our preference that our IP not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.”
Penske Entertainment hasn’t publicly demanded a retraction, and it hasn’t issued a cease-and-desist order to stop the use of the imagery and name.
The “Speedway Slammer” will be located at Miami Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison at the former Grissom Air Force Base, 70 miles north of Indianapolis in Bunker Hill. The 1,000 beds that will be made available represent roughly a third of its total capacity.
Immigration advocates have grown frustrated with the sheer amount that’s unknown about the “Speedway Slammer.” Gurinder Kaur, CEO of the Immigrant Welcome Center, told WTHR: “How will this become actualized? We still don’t know yet. And what will the cost of this be on our communities? The emotional cost and the economic cost?”
On August 1, Indiana Governor Mike Braun confirmed that his state had entered into a partnership with federal immigration authorities in connection with the state’s Department of Homeland Security, the Indiana Department of Corrections, the Indiana State Police, and the state’s National Guard to aid the federal government “in deporting individuals who are unlawfully in the U.S.”
Braun said the Department of Corrections is working alongside ICE to free up as many as 1,000 beds at the Miami Correctional Facility.
“When it comes to our state, we’re going to cooperate … as we’re housing detainees that have broken the law after they entered illegally, we’re going to cooperate with the federal government,” the governor told IndyStar. “When it comes to any of the other issues on due process and so forth, we want to make sure we’re doing that the right way as well.”
Braun’s commitment comes as Homan called on states to play a bigger part in federal immigration enforcement.
“States should play a role in this administration’s efforts to remove public safety threats from this nation as quickly as possible,” Homan also said Wednesday. “I’ve said from day one, we need 100,000 beds.”
