The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is planning to sell three warehouses in El Paso County it purchased last year for $123 million to convert into detention centers that could hold more than 8,000 illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, according to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso.

Background

The warehouses are located in Socorro, a small city southeast of El Paso. The plan to convert them into detention centers was met with resistance from local and state authorities, nearby residents, human rights advocates, and environmentalists.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had planned to spend $38 billion to convert the warehouses into detention centers with space to hold thousands of illegal immigrants. However, the agency has struggled to find enough detention space to handle the huge increase in detainees since the mass deportation push began.

Under former Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security spent above the market price and previous appraisals for the 11 warehouses, according to a comparison of state tax and land records and commercial sales done by Project Salt Box, an independent Maryland newsroom focused on monitoring DHS fiscal accountability through public records.

After Markwayne Mullin replaced Noem as DHS secretary, the agency’s own internal watchdog launched an audit into the warehouse’s purchase in May. Days later, Mullin told the House Homeland Security Committee that the department was canceling most pending contracts initiated under Noem.

Local Impact

El Paso already houses the country’s largest immigration detention center, Camp East Montana, which has become the focus of intense public scrutiny after the death of three detainees and repeated reports of unsanitary conditions, poor food, inadequate medical care, and security vulnerabilities.

The camp’s conditions have sparked a congressionally-mandated inspection that found dozens of violations in April, a lawsuit by a group of legal and civil rights organizations a month later, and an audit by a federal watchdog that determined DHS had wasted up to $11.5 million of taxpayer money during the facility’s first two weeks of operations while its cells were still empty.

Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.