'Everyone is pretty upset about it': Socorro speaks out against ICE center

Jeff Abbott

Edgar Solis moved to the quiet street in Athena West Colonia in unincorporated El Paso County eight years ago, drawn by the open space and for the security of his young daughters.

But now there is a sense of unease every time the 40-years-old former Marine walks out of his house, as he can see a giant warehouse. These buildings are the ones that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to use as immigration detention center, where officials hope to hold 8,500 people.

The planned site is causing surprise and frustration in the quiet rural farming towns east of El Paso, even among of President Trump's supporters like Solis.

"Everyone is pretty upset about it," Solis said. "I don't think it has to do with being a Trump supporter or not."

The tree-lined Mankato Road is dotted by pecan farms and equestrian facilities. The area was once quiet, Solis and other neighbors said, but new construction projects — including the DHS-owned warehouses looking down from the hill, a separate logistic centers and a planned 2,000 starter-home housing development — have broken the peace, and residents are uneasy.

Solis didn't learn about DHS's plan to detain immigrants from officials, but rather through a neighborhood group chat. His said his concern stem from any possibility of detainees escaping, especially those who may have been convicted of crimes.

"That's just a big concern for everyone, not knowing who is up there," Solis said. "If one person escapes, that's already one person too many … and that one person could be a rapist, a murder."

Other in his neighborhood also raised concern about the new ICE detention center.

Irma Soria lives just down the street from Solis. She raises a different concern than her neighbor.

"It is sad," the 59-year-old, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said. "It is unjust that they will have so many people like that."

'I don't agree with it'

The El Paso Times spoke with residents in Socorro and Clint, Texas, who said they had not heard the federal government was looking to transform a massive warehouse off Interstate 10 highway at the edge of the two towns into a massive immigration detention facility.

The project faces opposition from long-term residents, many of whom have struggled to access services and only learned about plans after the Trump administration paid $123 million for the buildings. Residents expressed frustration with the lack of information provided by local officials about the plans to hold immigrant detainees.

Oscar González, a 77-year-old who has lived in Socorro for 54-years, has seen the city grow, but he has seen little city investment in infrastructure despite an increase in taxes.

The retired Navy sailor chalks this up to mismanagement on the city's side, but he worries the planned immigration detention center will further stress the already strained infrastructure.

"I don't agree with it," Gonzalez said. "Because we don't have the water, we might have the gas, but we don't have the infrastructure."

The new detention center will impact the residents of three cities, Socorro, San Elizario and Clint, and parts of unincorporated eastern El Paso County, which have a combined population of around 45,000 people. Latinos make up the majority of the area, with many residents themselves immigrating from Juárez and other parts of Mexico.

Agriculture has historically dominated the economies of Socorro and Clint. But economic development and housing have boomed in recent years, with new neighborhoods encroaching on the land of longtime residents.

The three massive warehouses on Eastwind Avenue near Socorro's border with Clint that DHS is looking to use as an immigration detention center are part of this recent development. The warehouses were completed last year and have an estimated combined square footage of 826,780 feet.

The property was sold to DHS by the Delaware-based El Paso Logistics II LLC on Jan. 27, according to available documents. The plans to purchase the warehouse was never disclosed to local leaders — they learned through media reports, just like residents.

"It was very ironic because I was in a meeting (on Jan. 21) with some of our other community stakeholders specifically talking about the challenges that our region faces with regards to our national resources: water, electricity," said El Paso County Commissioner Iliana Holguin, who represents Precinct 3 covering the Lower Valley and eastern part of the county.

"No one from the federal government had made any effort to reach out to anyone locally about their plans for this facility," Holguin said.

The warehouses are part of plans to open at least 23 new processing and detention centers in mega-distribution centers across the U.S to add over 80,000 more beds to the immigration detention system. These new ICE sites include processing centers in San Antonio and McAllen, Texas.

The concerns over the impact on infrastructure was also raised by Solis, who expressed worry on how it would impact access to water.

This issue was raised by Socorro Mayor Rudy Cruz Jr. during the Feb. 11 special meeting addressing the ICE detention center. He cited conversations he had with Socorro Public Utility providers about the impacts of any facility that big within the city limits.

"We understand the strain that it is going to place on our infrastructure," Cruz said. "I have residents who live in my city right now who for over 40 years still don't have the basic utility … and for a private contracting entity to come in here and get it overnight, it is unjust and it is unfair."

El Paso County, Socorro takes steps to block ICE detention center

The city of Socorro is taking steps to oppose the new ICE detention center within the city limits following the special meeting of the City Council.

The council approved a motion to direct an investigation into whatever methods the city can take to block the facility. The motion followed a lengthy public comment, which lasted nearly two hours, where residents spoke out against the center.

The mayor expressed disappointment that the city had not informed residents further about the planned detention facility ahead of the special meeting of the City Council.

Socorro's steps to block the use of warehouses for an ICE detention center is part of efforts across the country to block the DHS from repurposing large warehouses as part of the Trump administration immigration enforcement. Most recently, the company selling a million-square-food warehouse in Hutchins, Texas announced it would not be selling to DHS after public outcry, CBS News reports.

The city of El Paso and El Paso County too have taken steps to challenge the expansion of ICE detention centers locally. While the county has no influence over zoning laws, it has sent letters to elected officials stating their opposition to the detention centers.

The county adopted a resolution to investigate what steps it can take to stop the center a week after more than 200 people voiced opposition to the plans in a seven-hour public comment on Jan. 26. Many residents voiced concern over the site, citing claims of rights violations at Camp East Montana ICE detention center.

There also are concerns that the warehouses are not designed to house people.

"These warehouses were not meant to house people, much less 8,500 people," Holguin said. "They are meant to store goods. So the needs that you have to maintain safety in a facility where people are housed are very, very different than what's required in a facility where you're housing goods."

State Rep. Mary E. González, who represents Socorro and Clint, too has condemned the plans to use the warehouses as a detention center.

"Our Borderland cannot absorb the additional pressure these facilities impose," González said. "It is imperative that we reject the continuation of the inhumane detention practices and demand respect for our community. We must not remain silent or complicit. No public policy can justify the infliction of such harm, and no measure of enforcement should come at the expense of our humanity."

Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:[email protected]; *@palabrasdeabajo** on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.*