EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The large migrant processing and detention facility under construction in Fort Bliss, Texas, will begin operations on Aug. 17, Border Report has learned.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tent complex initially will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 individuals in immigration removal procedures. As construction progresses through 2027, the facility will expand to 5,000 beds.
“After initial operating capacity is reached, the contractor will add more beds in increments of 250 beds a week, until a capacity of 3,000 beds is reached,” ICE said in an email in response to a Border Report inquiry. “ICE personnel will be responsible for the management and operational authority pertaining to Camp East Montana.”
Federal officials said the Fort Bliss facility will help reduce growing migrant populations in other detention centers along the border and elsewhere in the United States. As a processing center, it will refer migrants with final removal orders to ICE Air Operations for return flights to their countries.
The facility is being constructed under a Department of Defense contract worth up to $1.2 billion.
Mostly consisting of canvas tents, the soft-sided facility “offers everything a traditional detention facility offers, including access to legal representation and a law library, access to visitation, recreational space, medical treatment space and nutritionally balanced meals,” ICE told Border Report. “It also provides necessary accommodations for disabilities, diet, and religious beliefs.”
The agency emphasized the dual-purpose facility (detention, processing) will streamline the removal of foreign nationals found ineligible to remain in the country, which is one of the Trump administration’s priorities.
This, as the administration shifts focus to apprehending undocumented immigrants in the interior of the country now that changes to asylum practices, the use of the military on newly designated National Defense Areas, and the return of Border Patrol agents to traditional duties has resulted in migrant apprehensions at the border reaching historic lows.
On the other hand, the proliferation of new migrant holding facilities is sparking backlash from several advocacy groups. Organizations ranging from Vote Common Good to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Wednesday planned to denounce alleged inhumane conditions at centers like the so-called Alligator Alcatraz in Florida and call for grassroots protests.
