US to Build Largest Migrant Detention Facility at Texas Military Base

The US is building its largest-ever migrant detention facility at Fort Bliss, Texas, starting with 1,000 beds and expanding to 5,000. Funded by the Defense Department, it will be run by Homeland Security and use tent-like housing. The move is part of Trump’s intensified second-term crackdown on undocumented migrants, which has seen record ICE detentions, military involvement, and billions approved by Congress for new detention centers.

The United States is moving forward with plans to build what will become its largest-ever migrant detention facility, located on the Fort Bliss military base in Texas, close to the Mexican border. The Pentagon announced that the facility will initially hold 1,000 migrants starting this month, with the intention to expand rapidly. The site, to be called Camp East Montana, is expected to provide up to 5,000 beds “in the weeks and months ahead,” according to the Department of Defense.

Once completed, the complex will surpass all existing federal detention facilities in size. The project is being funded by the Defense Department and will consist of short-term, tent-like housing structures. Reports from US media, citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), indicate that while the camp is situated on a military base, the Department of Homeland Security will take responsibility for overseeing the detainees.

This development comes as President Donald Trump doubles down on his second-term pledge to arrest and swiftly deport undocumented migrants. His administration has intensified enforcement efforts, with masked, armed ICE agents conducting high-profile raids at factories and farms nationwide. The number of migrants detained by ICE has surged to record levels in recent weeks. Nationwide data from ICE shows nearly 57,000 people currently in detention, the vast majority of whom have no criminal convictions, despite Trump’s campaign focus on pursuing dangerous offenders.

The approach represents a notable shift from Trump’s first term, during which the Pentagon resisted proposals to build military-based detention facilities for migrants. At the time, the idea was abandoned after pushback from defense officials. Now, the president’s move to involve the military more directly in immigration enforcement is gaining momentum.

In July, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the use of two additional military bases — one in New Jersey and another in Indiana — to hold migrants ahead of their deportations. Earlier in the year, Trump ordered preparations for a massive “migrant facility” capable of housing 30,000 people at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. However, the site has not come close to accommodating that number.

Alongside these measures, Trump has deployed thousands of active-duty troops to the US-Mexico border, a move aimed at bolstering security and accelerating deportations. In some cases, migrants have been removed from the country on military aircraft, although reports suggest that this practice was discontinued due to high costs.

Congress has thrown its weight behind the administration’s detention expansion strategy. In July, lawmakers approved $45 billion (€38.6 billion) to fund the construction of new immigration detention facilities, underscoring the scale and permanence of the government’s crackdown on undocumented migration.