Army engineers use heavy equipment to remove shrubs and level land on April 10, 2025, at Fort Bliss, Texas, as two soldiers watch. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
FORT BLISS, Texas — Army engineers have begun removing shrubs and leveling sand on a desolate 60-acre stretch of the base where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved the building of a migrant detention facility.
Located behind a public transportation park-and-ride site, the land had been relatively untouched until Hegseth’s approval March 28 allowed 1st Armored Division engineers to drive bulldozers and heavy equipment through the reddish-brown dunes.
One section of the land holds a fenced-in collection of abandoned buildings that once hosted a range control site named Site Monitor, according to Fort Bliss. Those buildings appeared boarded up and in disrepair Thursday.
The expansion of migrant detention facilities is part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to increase deportations during his second term and crack down on migrants coming to the U.S. without authorization. Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have encouraged migrants to “self deport” before facing arrest.
More than 100,000 people have been deported since Trump took office Jan. 20, the White House told Newsweek magazine last week. More than 271,000 were deported during former President Joe Biden’s final year in office, according to the magazine.
The military has also been called on to support immigration enforcement by working with Customs and Border Protection to monitor the U.S. border with Mexico and conduct deportation flights.
At Fort Bliss, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will establish and operate temporary soft-sided holding facilities, said Army Maj. Jennifer Staton, a Defense Department spokeswoman. The Pentagon also agreed the Army will manage the contracts for the future detention facilities, dubbed the Customs and Border Protection El Paso Central Processing Center.
The location is near Montana Avenue and George Dieter Drive and already existing Department of Homeland Security facilities. The new site could hold up to 8,000 people.
ICE did not respond Friday to a request for comment on the population of migrants the agency intends to detain at the site or when it could open.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said during a visit to Fort Bliss last month that he had signed off on the agreement because of the post’s proximity to the U.S. border with Mexico. The west Texas base consists of 1,700 square miles that stretch west into New Mexico.
Fort Bliss is also supporting the military’s deployment to the southwest border. Elements of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division deployed from Fort Carson, Colo., are using a motor pool and barracks as they monitor the border for people attempting to cross between legal ports of entry. Soldiers then report the information to Customs and Border Protection because they are not authorized to conduct law enforcement activities.
A bulldozer sits at a former range control location known as Site Monitor on April 10, 2025, at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
