Largest-ever immigrant detention site opened at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas
The trump governance has opened “Lone Star Lockup,” the largest immigrant detention facility to date, located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.Initially housing 1,000 detainees, the center is planned to expand to hold 5,000 by 2027. The facility is part of the administration’s largest deportation campaign in U.S. history and is intended for detaining criminal aliens with pending charges or convictions who have fatigued legal appeals. Funded by a $1.2 billion Defense Department contract, the center includes legal, medical, recreational, and dining facilities. Fort Bliss, wich also serves as a major military base, has previously been used for staging detainees for deportation flights. While supported by Republican lawmakers like Senator John Cornyn, local Democrat Representative Veronica Escobar criticized the facility as costly and ineffective at targeting the “worst of the worst.” The center is one among several recently established to accommodate increased immigrant detentions during removal proceedings.
Largest-ever immigrant detention site opened at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas
The Trump administration has opened “Lone Star Lockup,” a facility that is slated to be the biggest immigrant detention center, as it moves forward with the “largest-ever” deportation operation in U.S. history.
The Army’s Fort Bliss site in El Paso, Texas, is now home to a 1,000-bed immigrant detention camp that will expand to include space for 5,000 detainees by 2027.
The base is located on the edge of the Texas-New Mexico border and is home to 90,000 service members.
Lone Star Lockup was funded by a $1.2 billion Defense Department contract.
In addition to beds, it contains space for legal access, medical treatment, recreation, and meals. Republican lawmakers across the red state, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), have applauded the effort.
“This is a place where up to a thousand criminal aliens will be detained pending their repatriation or return to their country of origin,” Cornyn said during an Aug. 13 site visit.
“We’re not talking about gardeners, housekeepers, or people like that. We’re talking about as many as 291,000 individuals who are called criminal aliens with criminal charges pending or criminal convictions who have exhausted all of their legal remedies,” Cornyn said.
Fort Bliss’ new detention center will hold up to 5,000 criminal aliens until they’re sent home. These are people with criminal convictions or pending charges. In Texas, we enforce the law and protect our communities. pic.twitter.com/Fx7cTJRK4Q
— Team Cornyn (@TeamCornyn) August 13, 2025
The site is one of many popping up in the past two months as the Trump administration expands detention space for illegal immigrants, a necessary part of its effort to arrest and then deport people.
Immigrants must be detained in most cases while they go through removal proceedings in court, which can take weeks to months.
Fort Bliss was used by the Trump administration earlier this year to stage illegal immigrants in federal immigration custody before they were boarded onto military aircraft and deported.
The first military flight out of El Paso took place in late January, originating from Biggs Army Airfield and bound for Guatemala with approximately 80 Guatemalan nationals on board, according to a Department of Homeland Security official.
Fort Bliss was also used during the Biden administration as a site where unaccompanied immigrant children were detained.
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Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), whose district includes El Paso, said she toured Fort Bliss on Monday and that the undertaking was a waste of money and did not detain criminal illegal immigrants.
“Today I spent over two hours conducting oversight at the new $1.2 billion migrant detention facility on Fort Bliss,” Escobar said in a post to X Monday afternoon. “The facts are simple: Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan is unbelievably costly and failing to target the ‘worst of the worst.’
Today I spent over two hours conducting oversight at the new $1.2 billion migrant detention facility on Fort Bliss.
The facts are simple: Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan is unbelievably costly and failing to target the ‘worst of the worst.’
Watch my full recap here:…
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) August 18, 2025
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