ICE Faces Backlash for El Paso Detention Center Plan

0:00U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, from El Paso, put acting ICE director Todd Lyons on the spot during a house hearing about turning three big. Warehouses in Saccorral, Texas into a massive immigration detention center for 8,500 people. I.C. bought those warehouses back in January for nearly $123 million from a Delaware company, right off Interstate 10, and now they're talking retrofits to hold folks instead of just storage. Corals of small town of $36,000 with serious struggles over water, waste water, and emergency services they barely cover their own. Residents and the City Council slapped a moratorium on any new department of homeland security spots because of it. Locals are fired up, with over 200 speaking out against the plan back in late January, and El Paso County just filed a lawsuit against ICE's end, DHS for dodging a Freedom of Information Act request on details like sight maps and public input processes. Lyons says Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullin is reviewing the whole detention

1:04strategy, promising talks with local leaders before deciding, to push ahead so we'll see if infrastructure wins out or plans roll on. I'm Cori with the story, and you've been listening to El Paso News today, AI-powered local news.