Large tents set up in northeast El Paso to help process migrants

EL PASO, Texas -- Large tents have been set up along US-54 and Mesquite Hills.

According to an El Paso Border Patrol spokesman, this is to help with migrant processing.

"Assisting others, you know like the central processing center which we all know has been run over capacity," said El Paso Border Patrol spokesman Carlos Rivera.

As Title 42 remains in place, the need for processing migrants is still a priority for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

They plan to build ten soft-sided facilities along the southwest border to help process migrants. One of which is already being put up in El Paso.

The large tents are in construction and expected to be completed in January.

"It's something that we expect to house upwards of a thousand migrants in this facility," said Rivera.

It has not yet been revealed if the facility will hold migrants there overnight. It will be operated by Border Patrol Processing Coordinators and their civilian personnel. The tents are not expected to be permanent.

"More infrastructure, more facilities to be able to house these migrants just means that we'll be able to house these migrants in a less crowded, safer, more humane manner," said Rivera.

The tents sit on 59 acres of land that was purchased from the city back in 2021, to build a processing center on it.