Special meeting at El Paso County Emergency Services to discuss Socorro Detention Centers

UPDATE: The ESD board did not take any action on the item, but around 30 people gave public comment on the issue.

Everyone who spoke was against the facilities, and they mainly spoke about not wanting extra resources to go to another facility in the area.

"It's appalling and it's heartbreaking," said Daniel Rivera. "At every opportunity that I can, I'm making it known where I stand and where I believe we stand as a community to speak out against this."

State Representative Mary Gonzalez was also at the meeting. She represents the area where the facilities would be built.

"What if the detention center would've caught on fire and then what if just down the road there was another fire? We do not have the capacity to handle multiple emergencies of this great size."

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The El Paso County Emergency Services District #2 is hosting a special meeting tonight at 6 P.M to discuss the Socorro Detention Centers.

As ABC-7 reported, the Department of Homeland Security has purchased warehouses in Socorro for the purpose of using them as detention centers.

While the Department of Homeland Security did not confirm the property was purchased to build a new immigration detention facility, a spokesperson with ICE said, "ICE purchased land in El Paso, TX. These will not be warehouses — they will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards. Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space."

The EPCSD will be talking about the expectations for the San Elizario Fire Department responding to emergency situations at the facilities.

The meeting is open to the public and will take place at 16001 Socorro Road. ABC-7 will have the full story of the meeting tonight on ABC-7 at 10.