The previous government's intention to reopen two immigration facilities is being pushed by Labour in an attempt to reach the highest removal rate since 2018.
290 more beds will be added to the detention capacity at Campsfield House and Haslar, according to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The latter, located in Gospar, Hampshire, closed in 2015, while the former, located in Oxfordshire, closed in 2019.
At a cost of £339 million, the then-Tory government announced in 2022 that it would reopen both prisons in order to raise the number of inmates by 1,000 at any given time.
Strong local resistance to the plans has been voiced by those pointing out that Campsfield House closed after years of issues including self-harm, hunger strikes, and suicides.
A Home Office source said they take the welfare and safety of people in their care "very seriously" and removals will be carried out "with dignity and respect".
Sky News understands that the long-term intention is for 1,000 beds to be made available across the two sites, but 290 are part of the first phase of development and building work.
According to the Home Office, ministers have set their sights on achieving over the next six months "the highest rate of removals of those with no right to be here, including failed asylum seekers" since 2018.
Staff will be redeployed to help drive an increase in returns, which the government said had dropped by 40% since 2010.
The measure is part of a wider effort to get a grip on the UK's immigration and asylum system.
Labour promised in its election-winning manifesto to create a new Border Security Command to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel, using money diverted from the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme.
The Tories spent around £700m on the plan but not a single asylum seeker was sent there under it because of legal setbacks, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declaring it "dead and buried" days after taking office.
In addition to the additional beds, the National Crime Agency (NCA), a UK-wide organisation with about 70 ongoing investigations into people smuggling and trafficking organisations, is set to hire 100 new professional intelligence officers.
This is in addition to the 50% increase in NCA personnel stationed at Europol.
A new initiative to investigate and prosecute employers who illegally hire immigrants without the right to remain will also be launched.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, junior home office minister Seema Malhotra was unable to say when the approach would have an impact on small boat crossings, or whether scrapping the Rwanda plan would be enough to fund the measures.
Home Office figures showed 206 migrants crossed the English Channel in three boats on Monday, which has taken the 2024 provisional total of people to have crossed to 19,294.
This is a 10% increase on the figure recorded at this point last year, which was 17,620.
Immigration now tops the list of issues that Britons consider most important - for the first time since 2016 - according to a new poll by Ipsos released on Friday.
A Labour source said the Tories left behind a "dire inheritance" on border security and there are "no quick fixes".
According to Ms. Cooper, "We are taking decisive action to strengthen border security and make sure the law is upheld and obeyed."
"With more employees being hired immediately and more people currently stationed throughout Europe, our new Border Security Command is already getting up and running.
"They will collaborate with European law enforcement organisations to explore every avenue for dismantling the illicit smuggling networks that orchestrate perilous waterway crossings, jeopardising our border security and endangering human lives."
"And by increasing enforcement capabilities and returns, we will establish a system that is better controlled and managed, in place of the chaos that has blighted the system for far too long."
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