DONNA, Texas (Border Report) – After four years and processing over 611,000 immigrants, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is closing a soft-sided tent facility it put up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas because of current low migrant crossings.
The Centralized Processing Center built in 2021 in the border town of Donna was meant to be a temporary facility while renovations were made on the main Border Patrol station in McAllen.
But it turned out to be the epicenter for migrant processing and played a “critical” role in helping law enforcement on the border, Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Chief Gloria Chavez said at a flag-lowering ceremony held Monday at the now empty facility.
“It quickly became a critical part of our operations as the number of arrests of illegal aliens far exceeded the capacity of our US border patrol stations throughout the Rio Grande Valley Sector,” Chavez said.
“At its peak, nearly 700 or more agents were assigned to the center, working tirelessly to process and manage the influx of illegal aliens arrested in our region. Many of them traveled from various locations across the United States, answering the call to assist the RGV sector during the historical surge,” she said.
Chavez said 611,000 immigrants from 90 different countries were processed at the facility over the years. That includes about 223,000 children who crossed the border unaccompanied by an adult, and nearly 360,000 families with children.
The facility was built to hold fewer than 2,100 people in eight pods that were designed to hold 260 people each.
But it quickly became packed and overcrowded.
In March 2021, over 400 unaccompanied boys shared one pod alone, according to photos shared at the time with Border Report by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar.
Overcrowding at the CBP Centralized Processing Center in Donna, Texas, is seen in these photos from March 2021. (File Photos Courtesy U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar)
The following month, there were a total of 3,700 unaccompanied children that went through the facility.
By May 2021, former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas returned for another visit to the facility and took media along where he proclaimed that processing times were at 24 hours for the unaccompanied children – down from 133 hours previously.
But since President Donald Trump took office and implemented strict asylum regulations along the Southwest border – that do not allow immigrants to claim asylum if they cross in between legal U.S. ports of entry – the facility has sat practically empty.
In January, there were 29,116 immigrant encounters by Border Patrol agents on the Southwest border, CBP reports. The most, 6,397, occurred in the San Diego Sector. The Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector reported the second-most encounters with 5,965, and the El Paso Sector was third with 4,871, CBP reports.
RGV Sector encounter numbers are the lowest since 1967, Border Patrol Spokeswoman Christina Smallwood told Border Report.
There are no more immigrants being held there and most buildings have already been taken down.
“As we close this chapter, it is essential to recognize that the decision to discontinue border patrol operations at the Donna processing center stems from a significant drop in arrest of illegal aliens, about 78% decrease between the ports of entry along the 277 miles of border throughout the Rio Grande Valley Sector,” Chavez said. “The message is clear, anyone entering illegally between the ports of entry into the United States will be deported and removed.”
Smallwood says CBP plans to keep open only two soft-sided tent processing facilities along the Southwest border in El Paso and San Diego.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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