ICE said it hoped the facility would “streamline and expedite removal processes, which is one of the Trump administration’s priorities."
The opening of the detention center comes amid broader efforts by the Administration to militarize immigration enforcement through the use of U.S. military bases and personnel.
At least two more military bases will be used to detain undocumented immigrants, per the ACLU.
Construction of the detention center faced numerous setbacks due to canceled contracts and concerns about improper bidding, according to NBC News.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to TIME. “ICE is indeed pursuing all available options to expand bedspace capacity. This process does include partnering with states and local government and housing detainees at certain military bases, including Fort Bliss.”
“Lone Star Lockup” could become the largest federal immigration detention center in the country. But it's just one of several new mega facilities that have recently opened, or are expected to open, as part of the Trump Administration's mass deportation plan.
A Washington Post report found that ICE plans on adding more than 41,000 detention beds in 2025 through partnerships with private prison contractors, reliance on military bases, and revival of prisons that may have halted services. The agency is looking at constructing “soft-sided” facilities that can be built and taken down rapidly. Detention facilities will double in scope in Texas, which will be able to house $38,000 people by the end of the year.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill has provided historic funding to help us carry out this mandate, especially by securing enough detention capacity to maintain an average daily population of 100,000 illegal aliens and 80,000 new ICE beds,” McLaughlin said in a statement. The bill marked the largest detention and deportation investment in U.S. history, per the American Immigration Council. Forty-five billion dollars were allocated for immigration detention in July, marking a 265% budget increase to ICE’s detention budget.
The construction of the center adds to the military base’s deep history of contributing to the immigration policy of the U.S. Fort Bliss was initially established following the end of the Mexican-American War to “defend” the Southern border. The base later served as an internment camp housing both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens of Japanese descent during World War Two. More than 100,000 people were sent to various relocation centers across the U.S. in the 1940s.
Fort Bliss more recently served as an emergency shelter for thousands of unaccompanied migrant children during the Obama and Biden Administrations. In 2021, two federal employees filed a whistleblower complaint regarding the conditions of the center, citing mismanagement of childcare and public health and safety concerns.
Today, more than 36,000 military members live on the base, along with some 36,000 retirees, and their families.
The Trump Administration initially claimed that the scope of its mass deportation would focus on criminals and violent offenders. An estimate by the Mississippi Free Press based on public Customs and Border Protection data shows that as of June 29, 72% of people detained by ICE had no criminal convictions.
The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a $232 million up-front contract to Acquisition Logistics LLC to build the facility, which has a tent-style structure. Construction is expected to be completed by September 2027, per the Texas Tribune.
