(NewsNation) — Texas officials have offered to lease more than 1,400 acres of state-owned borderland to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to construct deportation facilities, according to a letter NewsNation obtained Tuesday.
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, in a letter to Trump, said, “I am writing to formally offer 1,402 acres of land in Starr County, Texas, to be used to construct deportation facilities.”
The property, located approximately 35 miles west of McAllen in Starr County, was recently acquired by the Texas General Land Office (GLO). The letter reveals that within 24 hours of the Oct. 23 purchase, Buckingham approved a 7,681-foot border wall easement across the property.
The letter details GLO’s recent border security initiatives, including “Operation Flat Top,” which secured a 170-acre island in the Rio Grande previously described by state authorities as “the most dangerous part of the Texas border.”
Buckingham stated the land could be used for “processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history” in cooperation with federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol.
The GLO, which oversees 13 million acres of state lands, confirmed the offer through a spokesperson.
This comes as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to expand buoy barriers across the Rio Grande to stop migrants from crossing the southern border despite border crossings dropping in the state.
Abbott has maintained that Texas will have a proactive versus reactive stance at the border and will be prepared should a surge happen ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
Border officials are now training for an expected surge in migrant crossings before Trump takes the White House.
The Texas National Guard is holding exercises in conjunction with the Texas Department of Public Safety along the southern border in Eagle Pass on Tuesday.
These proactive measures began last week with groups split to cover more ground across the vast Southern border.
