Plans are now reportedly underway for the establishment of new detention facilities that will belong to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the far east side of El Paso.
The facilities, which may take the form of repurposing existing warehouses, will be located off Interstate 10 near the city of Clint.
In a statement released to the El Paso-based KFOX television station, ICE said the facilities will be “well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.”
The statement added that ICE agents are in the process of “making arrests in states across the U.S.,” and for that reason are “actively working to expand detention space.”
An existing ICE detention center, Camp East Montana, is located within the borders of nearby Fort Bliss, and is classified as the largest such detention center in the country.
News of the new ICE facility prompted Texas Democrat Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, to criticize the move, arguing that rather than building a new holding center, the existing facility at Fort Bliss should be closed.
Escobar added that the Fort Bliss center “does not meet minimum standards for detaining human beings.”
The ICE announcement comes after three detainees, in three separate unrelated incidents, died at the Fort Bliss facility between December of last year and this month.
There are currently around 400 ICE detention facilities in the country of varying size and purpose. Reports indicate that additional facilities are being planned in Orlando, Oklahoma City, and at a not-yet disclosed location somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
January 22, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy Immigration Customs and Enforcement Agency
