Senator Cornyn visits Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss
Heriberto Perez Lara
Watch Senator John Cornyn’s visit to Fort Bliss below:
FORT BLISS, Texas (KVIA) — Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is visiting the new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at Fort Bliss.
Camp East Montana is set to open later this month.
Senator Cornyn is set to give a media briefing after he speaks with ICE and Fort Bliss members.
ICE ERO El Paso recently said Camp East Montana is a short-term soft-sided federal detention facility for housing illegal aliens who are in removal proceedings or who have final orders of removal.
“The facility is being constructed under a Department of Defense contract, and DoD is funding the facility as part of the essential whole-of-government approach to protecting public safety and preserving national security,” said Leticia Zamarripa, ICE ERO El Paso Public Information Officer. “These necessary partnerships between federal agencies enable the government to better serve the American people.”
The facility’s initial operating capacity (IOC) is set for up to 1,000 beds beginning on Aug. 17 with the capability to expand up to 5,000 detention beds.
“ICE sorely needs to keep pace with its increased immigration enforcement operations against criminal aliens who are illegally present in the United States,” ICE ERO El Paso added.
ICE is using Camp East Montana to help decompress ICE detention facilities in other regions.
“It will also serve as a processing facility, and ICE Air Operations will effectuate removals for aliens staged at the facility, which enables ICE to detain the rapidly increasing number of criminal aliens its brave officers and special agents arrest,” ICE ERO El Paso also said.
ABC-7 reached out to the offices of Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and the Texas ACLU for comment.
More updates in later newscasts.