CBP Closing Temporary Processing Facilities for Illegal Immigrants

Arrests averaged around 330 per day last month, ’the lowest nationwide average apprehensions in CBP history,' the agency said.

Children ages 3 to 9 at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, on March 30, 2021. Dario Lopez-Mills/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is shutting down some of the facilities that housed illegal immigrants, potentially saving the agency millions of dollars.

“Illegal border crossings have plummeted, leading to the closure of several temporary processing facilities along the southwest border,” the CBP said in a March 14 post on social media platform X.

“Each facility shutdown saves $5-$30M/month. More resources for border security, less taxpayer money spent.”

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued a slew of presidential actions aimed at securing the border and tackling the influx of illegal immigrants.

These orders “led to historically low apprehensions” of illegals, and the CBP started “reducing the number of soft-sided facilities (SSFs) along the southwest land border during the first week of March,” the agency said in a March 13 statement.

SSFs are temporary, tent-like structures that include equipment such as electrical and lighting systems, ventilation, plumbing, air conditioning, and heating.

Nationwide apprehension of illegal immigrants averaged around 330 per day last month, “the lowest nationwide average apprehensions in CBP history.”

This was the first full month following Trump’s executive orders to secure U.S. borders. At the southwest border, daily apprehensions have fallen to below 300.

CBP plans to shut down SSFs in three locations in Texas—Donna, North Eagle Pass, and Laredo—and in Yuma and Tucson in Arizona. Other SSFs in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego will continue to operate.

Pete Flores, acting CBP commissioner, said the agency no longer needs many of the SSFs “as illegal aliens are being quickly removed.”

“The U.S. Border Patrol has full capability to manage the detention of apprehended aliens in its permanent facilities,“ he said. ”Manpower and other resources dedicated to temporary processing facilities will be redirected toward other priorities and will speed CBP’s progress in gaining operational control over the southwest border.”

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commended CBP and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for the cost-cutting in a March 18 post on X, calling it an “excellent job.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrants is facing pushback from some lawmakers and courts.

On Feb. 12, two U.S. senators—Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)—wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth criticizing the Trump administration’s policy of using the Department of Defense (DOD) for immigration-related operations along the southern border and at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

“DOD’s support for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been expensive for American taxpayers, with some DOD expenses costing over three times more than when DHS performs the same function, while also posing ‘an unacceptable risk’ to units’ readiness,” the senators wrote.

On March 15, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798—a law allowing for quick deportation of foreigners during times of war or invasion— and ordered the immediate arrest and removal of all Venezuelan nationals deemed to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which was recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the State Department.

However, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked the measure’s implementation on the evening of that day. His judgment was the result of a lawsuit filed by five Venezuelan nationals.

“A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm,” the judge said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice then filed an emergency motion in the case on March 16 at the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

“This Court should halt this unprecedented intrusion upon the Executive’s authority to remove dangerous aliens who pose grave threats to the American people,” the motion said.

“Effective, efficient removal of enemy aliens linked to an FTO when that opportunity is available is a key priority for the United States, and avoids exposing U.S. residents to severe harm.”