The United States Army’s base located in El Paso, Texas, commonly referred to as Fort Bliss, has recently been designated as a facility to detain and accommodate a significant number of migrants. According to several defense officials who provided information to CNN, contracts have already been finalized to initiate the construction of migrant facilities on the base. This decision reflects an ongoing initiative to address migrant resettlement and processing amid growing immigration challenges faced by the country.
The U.S. Army has assumed responsibility for overseeing the contracts related to the construction and maintenance of these facilities within Fort Bliss, as well as for managing a central processing center located in El Paso. Initially, these contracts were awarded to private companies by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The current plans indicate that the facilities at Fort Bliss may have the capacity to hold up to 5,000 migrants, as reported by one of the defense officials involved in the project.
Clarifying the management of these facilities, a defense official noted that the Secretary of Defense has granted the Army authorization to oversee the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE contracts that facilitate the construction, upkeep, and administration of the new facilities at the El Paso Central Processing Center, as well as on the Army’s land at Fort Bliss. It is important to note that although the facilities will be constructed on military grounds, Army personnel will not be assigned to oversee the facilities because legal regulations restrict military involvement in law enforcement activities.
Despite the involvement of Army management, reports from ProPublica have indicated that ICE has contracted a private company to run the migrant detention camp on Fort Bliss. This arrangement of using U.S. military bases for housing migrants is not without precedent; officials have considered alternatives to Guantanamo Bay, where previous administrations periodically sent migrants before processing them for their final destinations. The situation remains somewhat ambiguous regarding whether Fort Bliss will serve as an alternative to Guantanamo Bay or if it will function in conjunction with it.
Historically, Fort Bliss has been used as a temporary housing site for migrants in the past, notably during a surge of unaccompanied children who arrived as migrants during the Biden administration. Furthermore, the decisions to utilize Fort Bliss extend beyond just the current migrant situation; the facility was also critically engaged during Operation Allies Welcome, a U.S. initiative aimed at resettling over 11,000 Afghan nationals following the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
In stark contrast, the Trump administration’s attempts to deport migrants to Guantanamo Bay encountered a myriad of challenges. The administration had taken the unprecedented approach of transporting migrants to Guantanamo on military aircraft, which incited significant backlash from immigration advocates and led to lawsuits from various advocacy groups. Complications arose when construction efforts for migrant accommodations at Guantanamo were halted because conditions, including the lack of air conditioning and electricity, did not meet ICE’s detention standards.
Additionally, concerns have been raised about the conditions of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. In a previous court session, Lt. Col. Robert Green, a U.S. military officer in charge of detention operations at the site, disclosed that some detainees had resorted to refusing meals, thereby resulting in weight loss. Moreover, there were instances of self-harm practices, leading to the application of restraint chairs on certain detainees.
By mid-March, it was reported that the Biden administration had already spent approximately $16 million on operations at Guantanamo. Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs, who visited the base during a congressional delegation, remarked on the high costs and low capacity of the Guantanamo Bay facilities, suggesting there appeared to be no operational justification for utilizing the site as an immigration detention center. Her observations led to the conclusion that the decision to employ Guantanamo for such purposes seemed more linked to the political optics favored by former President Donald Trump.
In conclusion, the developments around Fort Bliss and Guantanamo Bay encapsulate a broader narrative concerning how U.S. immigration policies continue to evolve and respond to contemporary challenges, reflecting the complexities involved in processing migrants within varying conditions and political contexts.