Donald Trump's promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history has appalled some Americans. But others are cashing in on the boom in demand for private detention centers.

Migrants captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents need to be temporarily housed in places like the facility being readied in California City, prior to deportation.

"When you talk to the majority of residents here, they have a favorable perspective on it," said Marquette Hawkins, mayor of the hardscrabble settlement of 15,000 people, 100 miles (160 kilometres) north of Los Angeles.

"They look at the economic impact, right?"

California City is to be home to a sprawling detention center that will be operated by CoreCivic, one of the largest companies in the private detention sector.

The company, which declined AFP requests for an interview, says the facility would generate around 500 jobs, and funnel $2 million in tax revenue to the city.

"Many of our residents have already been hired out there to work in that facility," Hawkins told AFP.

"Any revenue source that is going to assist the town in rebuilding itself, rebranding itself, is going to be seen as a........

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