红杏视频

The Trump administration opened an immigration detention camp at Fort Bliss, a U.S. military base in Texas. It is slated to become the largest immigration detention site in the country.

Fort Bliss, in El Paso, will hold up to 5,000 people in the base鈥檚 new tent camp. The military base is home to 90,000 service members and their families. Opened at the height of the Texas summer, where temperatures regularly soar above 100 degrees and sandstorms are frequent, detainees are at serious risk of heat-related illness and other harsh conditions. In response, local elected officials in El Paso have already demanding transparency and accountability from the federal government.

Built behind the walls of a military installation and away from public view, the facility is a calculated move to militarize immigration enforcement, reduce transparency, and fast-track deportations with minimal accountability.

Opening an immigration detention camp at Fort Bliss is just the latest step in President Donald Trump鈥檚 dystopian plan to detain and deport millions. In the coming months, the administration plans to open detention camps on at least two more military bases, with additional troops being deployed to support Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations nationwide. This coordinated use of the military to carry out a deportation agenda is unprecedented, and deeply dangerous. It鈥檚 a tactic straight out of the authoritarian playbook, and we cannot let it go unchallenged.

Throughout history, Fort Bliss has served not as a place of refuge or justice, but as a staging ground for policies driven by cruelty and exclusion. Reopening it as an immigration detention site in 2025 would add yet another dark chapter to that legacy. Allowing this base to become the blueprint for exploiting military spaces and resources for immigration enforcement would set a dangerous precedent.

Fort Bliss has long been used to carry out government policies rooted in xenophobia and racism. During World War II, it was one of several Texas military bases used as for people of Japanese descent, as well as German and Italian immigrants. During the Mexican Revolution more than 20 years earlier, the base served as a temporary, many of whom were kept in military tents and. Some of the chemicals were later used in Nazi gas chambers.

In more recent history, Fort Bliss was used during Trump鈥檚 first term to detain children who were separated from their families. In 2021, under the Biden administration, children detained at the base experienced panic attacks and other forms of emotional distress due to inadequate staffing and improper care.

The Department of Homeland Security collaborating with the Department of Defense to detain thousands of people in tents on a military base is not only inhumane, it is ineffective and unnecessary. People held in remote facilities like Fort Bliss face steep barriers to accessing legal counsel and medical care, as well communicating with family members. Isolating people on military bases heightens the risk of abuse and neglect. It鈥檚 a punitive tactic designed to break people down, strip away hope, and pressure them into giving up their cases and accepting deportation.

This latest detention expansion is fueled by a massive influx of federal funding. Congress recently passed a reconciliation bill that allocated $170 billion toward immigration enforcement, including $45 billion specifically for detention. ICE鈥檚 detention budget is now than the of the entire federal prison system. The Trump administration has already spent a staggering on the Fort Bliss tent camp, rather than funding public services Texans urgently need, such as disaster relief, health care, education, and housing.

Texas already leads the nation in immigration detention, and the human cost is mounting. Since October,, already surpassing last year鈥檚 total. Meanwhile, ICE continues to obstruct oversight efforts by denying members of Congress and their staff access to detention facilities across the country, making transparency nearly impossible.

El Paso County鈥檚 introduction of a resolution opposing the Fort Bliss detention center marks a critical first step in holding the federal government accountable. The 红杏视频 applauds its call for transparency, local oversight, and the humane treatment of detainees. The public deserves to know what is happening behind the walls of its own military base. No one should be detained at Fort Bliss in the first place, and every individual held there deserves dignity, legal representation, and medical care.

In addition to state and local efforts, members of Congress must build on this momentum. They must demand full transparency from ICE by:

• Conducting oversight visits and releasing public reports on detention conditions.
• Opposing any more funding for militarized detention sites and tent cities and redeployment of military resources for the reckless deportation drive.
• Holding private contractors accountable for abuse and neglect.
• Supporting legislation that shifts immigration enforcement away from punitive approaches and toward permanent protections for immigrant communities.

The meaning of the word 鈥淭exas鈥� comes from the Caddo word meaning 鈥渇riend.鈥� But this detention camp is anything but friendly. It is a cruel, reckless, and costly operation launched with little input from local communities or elected leaders. This is the Trump administration鈥檚 test case to see whether it can quietly convert military resources into tools for mass detention and deportation. We urge Congress and local leaders to act swiftly, decisively, and publicly. Our military bases are meant to defend our freedoms, not become the site of new human rights violations.