President Trump’s team is developing a deportation hub at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas, that could eventually hold up to 10,000 undocumented immigrants as they go through the process of being deported, according to three officials familiar with the plan.
Fort Bliss would serve as a model as the administration aims to develop more detention facilities on military sites across the country — from Utah to the area near Niagara Falls — to hold potentially thousands more people and make up for a shortfall of space at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of a plan that is still in its early stages and has not yet been finalized.
Trump administration plan would expand that practice by establishing a nationwide network of military detention facilities for immigrants who are subject to deportation. The proposal would mark a major escalation in the militarization of immigration enforcement after Mr. Trump made clear when he came into office that he wanted to rely even more on the Pentagon to curtail immigration.
For Trump officials, the plan helps address a shortage of space for holding the vast number of people they hope to arrest and deport. But it also raises serious questions about the possibility of redirecting military resources and training schedules. Military officials say the impact would depend on the scale of arrests and how long detainees remained in custody. And advocates for immigrants point to a history of poor conditions for immigrants held in military facilities.
Officials expect to hold just 1,000 immigrants at Fort Bliss in the initial phase of its detention expansion, but it could ultimately hold many more. The Trump administration is already moving some people to Fort Bliss before deporting them.
Once the administration finishes evaluating the detentions at Fort Bliss over about the next two months, it could start detaining migrants at other military bases, including Air Force bases, close to the border and then across the country as necessary. The facilities are in Florida, New Jersey, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota, Wyoming, Washington and Northern California, and near Niagara Falls in upstate New York.
Posted by John3262005