Las Cruces prepares Old Armory to help feds process asylum seekers

Employees with the City of Las Cruces are working furiously to finish preparing a new processing center and housing facility for families and immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S.

The facility is at an Old Armory building in west Las Cruces. The City is using some of the $500,000 City Council allocated for migrant care to pay for the work at the Old Armory.

The building will be used primarily to process migrants after they are dropped off by Border Patrol agents. Once the migrants are processed at the facility, they will be taken to other shelters throughout Las Cruces and Dona Ana County. If those shelters reach capacity, the Old Armory can also house migrants overnight, city officials said.

Udell Vigil, a spokesman for the City of Las Cruces, told ABC-7 the facility will have three main sleeping areas, a kitchen, dining area, showers, bathrooms and offices where migrants will be processed.

The facility was originally scheduled to start receiving migrants late Friday afternoon. Vigil, however, said it likely will not be in operation until next week.

The City of Las Cruces has accepted more than 2,000 asylum seekers over the past couple of weeks. The City said volunteers are still needed. Anyone seeking information or details about volunteering should be directed to the City’s website or the City’s social media outlets for directions about volunteering.

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