Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered president-elect Donald Trump 1,400 acres of land across the border to help him in his massive deportation efforts.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Buckingham sent a letter to Trump on Tuesday offering the land Texas bought from a rancher, saying it could house “deportation facilities.”
“My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history,” Buckingham wrote in the letter, first obtained by Fox News.
The land was initially purchased by the Texas General Land Office (GLO) last month, and was initially intended for a 1.5-mile stretch of border wall. According to Buckingham, the previous owner had “refused to allow the wall to be built and actively blocked law enforcement from accessing the property.”
Currently, the land is used for farming crops like onions, canola, corn, and sunflowers, generating revenue for Texas’ Permanent School Fund. However, it is still unclear what purpose the land will have now that Buckingham offered it to Trump.
The offer aligns with the Trump administration’s reported plans to significantly expand detention infrastructure. NBC News has reported that the administration seeks to double the 41,000 detention beds currently allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s immigration policies, previously outlined the need for “vast holding facilities” to process individuals awaiting deportation. These facilities, he suggested, would likely be constructed on open land near the Texas border.
Despite Texas aid, other states, such as California, and Arizona have expressed they will fight Trump’s border policies.
“We will not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live on Monday, adding she will not use state police or the National Guard with mass deportation.
