New El Paso County documents confirm it: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has plunked down nearly $123 million for the purchase of several warehouses to be repurposed as detention centers.
Reports of DHS wanting to locate a new such facility in metro El Paso have caused widespread concern, with Democrat Representative Veronica Escobar last month condemning the move, while also criticizing the existence of a current center at Fort Bliss.
“The existing facilities need to be shut down, not proliferated,” Escobar said in a statement, later adding, “El Pasoans do not want more detention facilities in our community.”
Members of the El Paso City Council, meanwhile, have passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on any permitting, zoning, and licensing that may be required for the construction of additional detention facilities in the city.
Despite the controversy, DHS is pushing ahead with its plans for a new center which will be able to house up to 8,500 people.
The warehouses in question are located off Gateway Boulevard East, 16 miles to the southeast of downtown El Paso, and while still in El Paso County, are within the boundaries of the city of Socorro.
According to various reports, the facilities in question are comprised of three warehouses made of reinforced concrete and measuring around 296,000 square feet each.
The facilities are located at what is called the Eastwind Logistics Center, between Tower Trail Lane to the north and N. Zaragoza Road to the south; a defined industrial zone and may require some repurposing for the DHS needs.
According to the news site Bloomburg, the new facilities in Socorro, designated as Class A structures, could end up being “among the largest jails of any kind in the country if completed as envisioned.”
February 9, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Loopnet
