Trump Administration Unveils Massive 'Lone Star Lockup' Detention Center in Texas

August 19, 2025 - The Trump administration has launched the "Lone Star Lockup," the nation's largest immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss, starting with 1,000 beds and set to expand to 5,000 by 2027, as part of aggressive enforcement against criminal illegal aliens.

The $1.24 billion site, dubbed "Lone Star Lockup" by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, began accepting detainees August 17, housing single adult men and women with criminal convictions or pending charges who've exhausted legal remedies. "We're talking about as many as 291,000 individuals who are called criminal aliens," Cornyn stated, emphasizing humane conditions including legal access and medical facilities.

By Monday, the facility neared capacity with about 1,000 detainees, per local reports. Built by a private contractor on remote Army post land, it repurposes a site used under Biden for unaccompanied minors, now focusing on deportation priorities.

President Trump highlighted the center as key to reversing open-border chaos, fulfilling campaign pledges to deport threats. Cornyn praised it as secure and targeted, countering critics like Rep. Veronica Escobar, who decried the $1.2 billion cost and claimed it fails to prioritize the "worst of the worst."

This opening joins other facilities like Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz," amid plans for up to 10 military-base sites. With detentions ramping up, the administration aims to process and remove hundreds of thousands, bolstering national security and border integrity.