EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Federal immigration officials broke ground on a new dormitory for detainees that will replace facilities built in the 1960s.
The new building will be built at the El Paso Processing Center and will house up to 216 people, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Monday.
It will replace four dormitories built when the ICE-owned facility was established in 1966.
Mary De Anda-Ybarra, the director of the El Paso Field Office for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, said it’s a new chapter for the El Paso Processing Center, which itself can hold up 840 people but hasn’t had any construction or major changes since the 1990s.
She and five others, including members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, broke ground on the site of a new dormitory on March 7 in East El Paso.
“This building is a positive for the ERO mission to uphold national security, public safety and border security,” De Anda-Ybarra said. “This building will help with our mission. It is important for detainees as we strive to provide the first step to much-needed upgrades. […] These plans help with detainee health, safety, security and well-being. We will continue to arrest criminals, detain individuals, and ultimately remove those who violate our nation’s immigration laws.”
The new building will house detainees who are pending removal proceedings before the Executive Office of Immigration Review or are awaiting removal to their home countries.
De Anda-Ybarra said a new administration building is also in the works.
Joining her for the groundbreaking ceremony were John Christopher “JC” Lane, facilities branch chief of the Engineering and Construction Support Office with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; John Petito, Office of Acquisitions and Facilities Management (OAFM) central unit chief; Johnathan Orloski, OAFM El Paso Processing Center building manager; ERO El Paso Deputy Field Office Director Jesus Ramos; and Flor Vega, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers area engineer who is overseeing the project.
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