Texas’s McAllen (AP) A piece of remote ranchland along the U.S.-Mexico border is being offered by Texas as a staging ground for possible mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.
The property is situated in rural Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley and was first acquired by Texas last month. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, a Republican, extended the offer to Trump in a letter on Thursday.
The land offer is the most recent example of the stark disagreement between state and local governments over whether to back or oppose Trump’s intentions to deport large numbers of illegally-residing migrants. The Los Angeles City Council decided on Tuesday to become a sanctuary jurisdiction, which would restrict collaboration with federal immigration authorities in the execution of deportations.
Texas officials have traditionally supported harsh border control tactics, such as erecting razor-wire fences and enacting legislation last year that would give law enforcement the authority to detain migrants who enter the country illegally.
In a statement, Buckingham said, “I stand united with President Donald Trump to ensure American families are protected by offering this newly acquired 1,400-acre property to the incoming Trump Administration for the construction of a facility for the processing, detention, and coordination of what will be the largest deportation of violent criminals in our nation’s history.”
Trump has stated that he intends to start his deportation campaign as soon as he takes office. During his campaign, he regularly targeted illegal immigration, attributing a record increase in illegal border crossings to problems ranging from high housing costs to drug trafficking.
Eleven million people are thought to be in the country illegally.There are still concerns over where they would be held and how they would be identified.
The transition team for the president-elect made a statement but did not specify if they would accept Texas’ offer.
Karoline Leavitt, the transition spokesperson for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, stated on Wednesday that President Trump will use all available tools to secure the border, safeguard their communities, and begin the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history on the first day.
The commissioner said the previous owner opposed the construction of a border wall, but the Texas General site Office did not comment on the price paid for the site.
In 2021, Republican Governor Greg Abbott constructed a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) border wall on that property. According to Buckingham, the state has established an additional easement for additional border wall construction as a result of the latest purchase.
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