SOCORRO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — More than a month after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement scrapped plans to turn three warehouses in Socorro into immigration detention and training facilities, local business owners and city leaders say they are relieved.
Lizbeth Carlos, owner of Café CoCol in Socorro, said the community came together to oppose the proposal.
“I think as a community we held strong and we said we don’t want it. Why are we doing this?” Carlos said.
Café CoCol was one of the first businesses to open along the Mission Trail five years ago. Carlos said it has become a gathering place for residents, and many people wanted to protect the area.
“We had people coming in, putting up posters, talking about it and going to the courthouse,” Carlos said.
The proposed $123 million detention center faced months of opposition from local businesses, the City of Socorro and Mayor Rudy Cruz Jr. City council meetings drew dozens of residents who spoke against the plan.
Socorro Mayor Rudy Cruz Jr. Credit: KFOX14/CBS4
“Ultimately, this city council was not in agreement with this type of operation moving into the city of Socorro, especially with just the drain it was going to put on our resources,” Cruz said.
According to Cruz, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar helped raise those concerns with federal officials.
Socorro leaders focus on future after ICE warehouse plans end
RECOMMENDED: ICE drops plan for Socorro warehouses as immigration detention, training sites
“I get a call, it’s a Washington D.C. phone number. I answer — it’s Congresswoman Escobar. She says, ‘Guess what? The detention facilities are no longer going to operate in your city.’ And I said, ‘Great. Now what?’” Cruz said.
With millions of taxpayer dollars already spent on the three warehouses, city leaders are now turning their attention to what comes next.
Cruz said the city wants to work with the federal government on a plan that could bring new businesses to Socorro.
“We want to be able to sit down with them and negotiate some type of plan and some type of strategy to help bring in business that’s going to feed into our tax base,” Cruz said.
Now, city planners are focused on supporting local businesses.
“The historical areas is one that we’re going to continue to advocate for and also protect and preserve,” Cruz said. “And then over on the other side, closer to I-10, that’s where we really want to go big with the industrial and the manufacturing.”
As the city works to shape its future, Cruz said he plans to make several trips to Austin and Washington, D.C., in an effort to bring more opportunities to Socorro.
RECOMMENDED: Escobar questions DHS on Socorro detention plans, Camp East Montana and Mt. Cristo Rey
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