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Fort Bliss ICE Facility Opens With 1,000 Beds, Plans Call for 5,000

Japanese American groups call the conversion a repeat of wartime injustices.

An ICE detention facility being built to house migrants at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 8, 2025.
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In this handout provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide illegal immigrants to board a removal flight on January 23, 2025 at Fort Bliss, Texas.
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Overview

  • The El Paso site began operations over the weekend under a roughly $1.2 billion build, with a phased expansion to 5,000 beds that would make it the largest U.S. immigration detention facility.
  • Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin rejected internment comparisons as "deranged and lazy" and said ICE is targeting violent offenders.
  • Advocates cite TRAC data indicating about 70% of the 59,380 people in ICE custody as of Aug. 10 had no criminal conviction.
  • Fort Bliss previously served in World War II as a U.S. Army intake site that held Japanese, German and Italian nationals behind barbed wire and guard towers.
  • Rep. Veronica Escobar voiced concerns after touring the contractor-run center, citing oversight, conditions, and prior abuse allegations from the base’s use to house unaccompanied children.