CBP getting ready to open another migrant processing center in northeast El Paso
EL PASO, Texas -- ABC-7 has learned that El Paso will soon be home to a site large enough for federal agents to process nearly 1,000 undocumented immigrants.
The U.S. Border Patrol currently has a processing center right off of Hondo Pass on the city's northeast side, which was the site where hundreds of migrants were brought last year during a surge in border crossings.
According to Customs and Border Protection officials, the new processing center will also sit in northeast El Paso - on undeveloped land there. The proposed site has just passed its final environmental assessment.
Once finished, the permanent one-story center will be 113,000 square feet and have an additional 200,000 square feet of parking space next to the facility.
The new processing center will have a capacity for 965 detainees and 200 staff members.
Officials told ABC-7 that the project will take around 18 months to complete, and once finished will encompass 10 acres in size.
The facility is expected to open in 2023.
Even though northeast El Paso already has one processing center, CBP officials say the additional facility will help the agency process and transport migrants in a timelier fashion to meet nationally-imposed standards.
