EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) —El Paso-area immigrant rights groups and community advocates took part in a car caravan Saturday, April 25, to oppose what they described as the growing use of large-scale “ICE warehouse” detention facilities.
Border Network for Human Rights, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and the ACLU of Texas lead a car caravan and press conference as part of the national “Communities Not Cages Day of Action,” a coordinated effort responding to the rapid growth of mass immigration detention across the country.
Organizers say Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is acquiring and converting industrial warehouse sites into detention facilities designed to hold thousands of people at a time. In the El Paso region, they point to a proposed facility in Socorro that could detain up to 8,500 people, which would make it one of the largest immigration jails in the country. The proposal has drawn opposition from residents, and organizers say local leaders have called for transparency and accountability.
Advocates also raise concerns about the potential impact on local resources, including water. Reporting cited by organizers indicates the proposed facility could require hundreds of thousands to more than a million gallons of water per day, which they say could strain the region’s limited water supply and divert resources from surrounding neighborhoods.
Organizers say the region has already seen the effects of large-scale detention. They pointed toward Camp East Montana as an example, where advocates have documented what they describe as inhumane conditions, inadequate medical care and systemic neglect. They argue that expanding detention through larger warehouse-style sites would intensify those harms and put more people at risk.
Organizers warn that the expansion of these facilities could pose risks beyond those held in detention.
These facilities threaten not only those detained, but also the long-term health, resources, and stability of border communities.
The caravan began at the Ysleta Park Center and traveled along to Cougar Park, where a press conference was later held.
The mobilization was a part of a nationwide effort led by Disappeared In America, Detention Watch Network, Indivisible, MoveOn, Public Citizen, and Workers’ Circle.
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