The El Paso City Council voted unanimously on Monday to begin rewriting local zoning rules in an effort to deter the construction of new immigrant detention facilities,
The action directs city staff to draft amendments to El Paso’s zoning ordinance, including provisions that could regulate how close such facilities may be built to residential areas, how large they can be, and what setback requirements they must meet.
While the changes would not explicitly ban detention centers, they could make it significantly more difficult for new facilities to be approved within city limits.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment via email.
Why It Matters
El Paso has emerged as a central hub in the Donald Trump administration’s immigration detention system, with existing facilities in and around the region drawing increasing scrutiny from advocates and residents over conditions and rapid expansion.
What To Know
The measure is one of the clearest formal steps by a major border city to use local regulatory authority to push back against the expansion of federal immigration detention infrastructure.
City officials framed the move as a response to community concerns and a recognition of the limits of local authority.
Deputy City Manager Mario D’Agostino said the city has little jurisdiction over federally owned sites, but noted that revising local ordinances could expand oversight of privately owned land within city boundaries.
“If it’s a private company being run for the federal government and it’s on private land, well then it does have to follow our local codes and procedures,” D’Agostino said at the meeting. “But as far as federal property, we cannot put any restrictions on.”
The council’s action also instructs city employees to notify their supervisors if agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrive at any municipal facility, while continuing to adhere to the requirements tied to federal funding agreements.
Camp East Montana, a large-scale immigration detention site on the outskirts of El Paso, has come under scrutiny following reports of deaths in custody and concerns over medical care and living conditions.
The facility, which can hold thousands of detainees, has drawn criticism from advocates after three detainees died at the facility, according to an analysis of detainee death reports.
Emergency responders logged about 90 calls to 911 from the facility between August 17 and December 1—the equivalent of about five per week—including urgent crises for chest pain, seizures, fainting, and suicide attempts, according to call logs obtained by the El Paso Times.
What Happens Next
City staff is expected to return to the council with draft proposals in the coming weeks. Any final changes would require additional council approval, setting the stage for what could become a closely watched test of how far local governments can go in constraining the footprint of the nation’s immigration system.
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