El Paso County Sues ICE After Feds Stonewall Questions on Massive Detention Center

El Paso County officials have had enough of being kept in the dark about the Trump administration's plans to build one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country on their soil.

On Monday, the El Paso County Commissioners Court authorized a federal lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for refusing to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests about a massive detention facility planned for Socorro, Texas. The lawsuit, to be filed in the Western District of Texas, alleges ICE and the Department of Homeland Security violated federal transparency laws by stonewalling the county's attempts to get basic information about the project.

County Attorney Christina Sanchez has been seeking documents including site maps, applicable permitting requirements, public notice procedures, environmental assessments, and records of any meetings or discussions related to the planned facility. Despite multiple requests, federal officials have provided nothing.

"To date, county officials had not received a response to its requests for public information," Sanchez told the commissioners court.

A $123 Million Purchase, Zero Public Input

The detention center controversy erupted in January when DHS purchased three massive warehouses in Socorro from El Paso Logistics 2 LLC for $123 million. The sale closed on January 27, just one day after more than 200 El Paso residents packed a commissioners court meeting to voice opposition to the plan.

The proposed facility would hold 8,500 people, making it one of the largest immigration detention centers in the United States. Combined with the existing Camp East Montana facility in East El Paso, which already holds up to 5,000 detainees and is currently the nation's largest detention center, El Paso County would have approximately 13,500 detention beds under the Trump administration's expanded immigration enforcement operations.

That is more detention capacity than many state prison systems.

Feds Move Forward Despite Local Opposition

While DHS briefly paused purchasing additional warehouse properties amid public outcry, the agency is moving full steam ahead with converting the Socorro warehouses into detention facilities. Federal officials have not provided a timeline for when construction or conversion work will begin, or when the facility might start accepting detainees.

The lack of information has left county officials unable to assess the impact on local infrastructure, emergency services, traffic, or environmental concerns. Sanchez's office has been investigating whether ICE followed required procedures for environmental assessment before purchasing the properties, but without documents from the federal government, that investigation has hit a wall.

The commissioners court directed Sanchez to prepare a comprehensive report on what is known about the planned detention centers in the county. The FOIA lawsuit is a direct result of her office's inability to obtain the documents necessary to complete that report.

A Pattern of Secrecy

The El Paso lawsuit is part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement apparatus operating with minimal transparency or local input. Detention facilities have been rapidly expanded across the country, often in communities that had no advance notice and no opportunity to weigh in on decisions that will fundamentally affect their cities and towns.

ICE detention centers have faced widespread criticism for inhumane conditions, inadequate medical care, and deaths in custody. The expansion of for-profit immigration detention has created a system where private companies profit from human suffering while local communities bear the costs of increased demand on public services and infrastructure.

El Paso County's lawsuit demands what should be standard practice in any democracy: that government agencies provide basic information about their plans and follow the law when citizens ask questions. The fact that ICE has refused to provide even site maps or permitting documents suggests an agency that believes it operates above the law and beyond public accountability.

The county is asking a federal judge to force ICE to comply with FOIA and turn over the requested documents. Whether the courts will compel the Trump administration to answer basic questions about its detention expansion remains to be seen.