EL PASO, Texas (BN24) — The U.S. government is constructing a vast detention facility capable of holding 5,000 immigrants in West Texas, a move that marks a significant expansion of President Donald Trump’s escalating crackdown on illegal immigration.
According to a Department of Defense contract released Monday, Acquisition Logistics—a Virginia-based firm—has been awarded $232 million in Army funds to build the new facility. The compound will house single adult migrants and is described in federal procurement documents as a “soft-sided facility,” a term commonly associated with large-scale tent camps.
The detention site is set to be constructed in El Paso, a city already home to the sprawling Fort Bliss Army base that spans both Texas and New Mexico. The location is seen as strategically important in the Trump administration’s ongoing push to increase detention capacity along the southern border.
The announcement comes on the heels of Florida’s rapid construction of a controversial detention complex, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” located on a remote airstrip in the Everglades. That facility has raised concerns among civil rights advocates over its isolation and accessibility.
President Trump recently signed legislation allocating a record $170 billion toward border and immigration enforcement, including $45 billion dedicated specifically to detention efforts. Over the next five years, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is set to receive $76.5 billion—nearly ten times its current annual budget.
Despite a sharp decline in illegal border crossings in recent months, the administration is pressing ahead with expanded detention infrastructure as Trump renews his pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
