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STARR COUNTY — Texas officials sent a clear message Tuesday at two events in the Rio Grande Valley that they will actively cooperate with the incoming Trump administration and its immigration crackdown.
First, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham announced that Texas will continue to provide more land for mass deportation facilities, allowing the state’s office to prepare for the new administration’s inauguration in January. He said the land was being identified.
Later, during a pre-Thanksgiving visit with military personnel participating in Texas’ unique border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that now that President-elect Donald Trump is back in the White House, He suggested strong cooperation between the state and federal governments. .
“Rescue efforts are underway,” Abbott told members of the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“The cavalry is here, quite literally with us today,” Abbott said before introducing Tom Homan, President Trump’s pick to lead immigration enforcement. Homan promised federal aid to Texas military personnel.
“We hope that there will be enough support for some people, both men and women, to be able to return home with their families,” Homan said, adding that the administration plans to carry out domestic enforcement operations that involve mass deportations. He added that it would be.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks with state troopers and National Guard members during a Thanksgiving dinner event in Edinburg on November 26, 2024. Credit: Michael Gonzalez, Texas Tribune
Buckingham started the day at his 1,402-acre Starr County ranch, where he proposed building a deportation facility to President Trump last week and where the state is currently building a border wall.
“We have 13 million acres of land in the state, and if there is something that meets the needs of the federal government, we would like to see it utilized,” Buckingham told the Tribune.
The new project is called “Jocelyn’s Initiative,” after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houston girl who police say was killed by two Venezuelan men who were in the country illegally. Jocelyn’s mother and grandmother, Alexis and Jackie, also joined Buckingham to announce the initiative at a press conference.
“Our goal is to ensure that no other parent has to go through what Alexis went through, unfortunately,” Buckingham said.
(‘Uncharted territory’: President Trump’s anti-immigrant plan could gain attention in Texas)
Starr County’s population is approximately 65,934, about one-third the size of neighboring Hidalgo County. There are miles of undeveloped land. Even within Rio Grande City, the county’s largest city (where city officials celebrated the opening of the first Starbucks in 2022), open fields are just a few blocks away.
Starr County is also unique in the Valley in that it has large expanses of hills, unlike the flatlands that characterize other parts of the region. Atop a hill overlooking the city stands a white cross reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue.
It is here that the Texas General Land Office acquired 1,400 new acres in October. Last week, Buckingham proposed the site to the incoming Trump administration as a site for a detention center.
In a letter to Trump, Buckingham said the DHS “has entered into an agreement with the federal government that will allow the construction of a facility to process, detain, and coordinate the nation’s largest deportation of violent criminals. We are fully prepared.” history of this country. ”
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Land Secretary Dawn Buckingham spoke at a news conference Tuesday at a state ranch in Rio Grande City. Buckingham promised that Texas would provide the incoming Trump administration with more land for mass deportations. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/Texas Tribune
Under the state constitution, the Bureau of Land Management must lease land it owns to raise funds for public schools. The Starr County land is currently leased to a farmer who has planted rows of green onions that can be seen growing over acres.
Land office manager Jason Smalley said flooding could be an issue if a detention facility is built there. He noted that all facilities may need to be built close to major roads to avoid flooding.
A car wash operates off that road, 1430 Farm to Market Road. A group of employees working Tuesday declined to be interviewed further or to identify themselves. However, they suggested that heavy rains had caused water to seep into the road.
Immigrant detention facilities are already a familiar presence in the Valley.
The processing center in McAllen, called the Ursula Central Processing Center because of its location on the street, is notorious for its wire-wired detention center and low temperatures inside the facility, known as “La Heirera” or “Icebox.” I was given a nickname.
The chain-link fence was removed as part of renovation work from October 2020 to March 2022. During renovations, CBP opened a facility in Donna, which remains open today.
These facilities were established to process immigrants entering the United States, but once the Starr County Detention Center is built, it will be the only facility used to process immigrants being deported. .
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
Disclosure: The Texas General Land Office has financially supported the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by contributions from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. See the complete list of them here.
