Texas will offer a 1,400-acre farm for Trump’s immigrant detention center

The Texas General Land Office has unveiled its newly acquired 1,400-acre ranch in Starr County, near the U.S.-Mexico border. This will be offered as a site for a detention center, part of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to crack down on illegal immigrants. The 1,400-acre farm was purchased in October for $3.82 million and unveiled this week.

Texas has been at the center of America’s anti-immigration debate, with Republican Governor Greg Abbott waging a war against President Joe Biden over the Democrat’s immigration policies.

Trump’s new border czar, Tom Homan, has confirmed the use of the Texas ranch as a detention center.

Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham had previously said the state was looking for additional land to support the federal effort, according to the Dallas Morning News.

“If the Trump administration thinks it will be helpful, we want to be good partners with them,” Buckingham said during a news conference at the ranch in Starr County, the Dallas Morning News reported.

This General Land Office controls more than 13 million acres of land, Buckingham added.

The Starr County ranch is located on the outskirts of Rio Grande City, a city of about 15,000 people, in Texas.

TEXAS INITIATIVE NAMED AFTER GIRL KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

The Texas government’s effort is called the Jocelyn Initiative. It is named after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houston girl who was murdered in June by two illegal Venezuelan immigrants.

The two have been charged with murder and assault.

“We will continue to fight to ensure that our state remains a beacon of hope, justice and dignity for all who call Texas home,” Buckingham said, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The state recently purchased land along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley and announced plans to build a border wall on it.

The previous owner had refused to allow the state to build a border wall on site. On Tuesday, Buckingham criticized the former owner, claiming that blocking the wall had led to an increase in drug trafficking and illegal crossings into Texas.

The ranch, located near the city of Rio Grande, will house a 1.5-mile border wall that was built on that land in 2021 under Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Buckingham said with the recent purchase, the state has created a new easement for the construction of more border walls.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the wall will be completed within the next week as part of Operation Lone Star, Governor Greg Abbott’s immigration policy.

TRUMP’S BORDER CZAR CONFIRMS TEXAS RANCH IS BEING USED TO APPEAR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

About a dozen lawmakers from the Texas House and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy joined Buckingham at the news conference. Buckingham assured the public that her agency is not actively seeking additional land, but is focused on supporting federal border security efforts.

Tom Homan noted on Fox News that the facilities could be temporary or permanent, depending on the needs of the federal government.

On November 26, Governor Abbott and Homan greeted Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety (DPS) troops in Edinburg, praising their immigration enforcement efforts.

“This mission you are on now is in your home country… to preserve the security and sovereignty of your own state,” Abbott told the soldiers, portraying the border situation as an “unprecedented threat.”