KVUE: Trump administration weighs whether to accept Gov. Abbott’s offer of military bases, jail cells to help with immigration enforcement efforts

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is offering the Trump administration land, military bases and jail cells to help his administration crack down on illegal immigration and secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

The governor made the offer in a private meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. The state shares a 1,254-mile border with Mexico, the most of any state in the country.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Abbott touted the 50 miles of border wall the state has completed. He said the plan is to add 20 more miles in the coming days. President Trump has vowed to help Texas build more of the wall on the border and send the military to help with border enforcement.

Abbott said the federal government could take over military bases the state built in Del Rio and Eagle Pass. The two bases combined can house up to 2,400 soldiers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents or Border Patrol agents.

Abbott also offered prison cells across the state to be used to detain people who are in the country illegally.

“The state of Texas is offering 4,000 prison cells at no cost to the United States that they will be able to use for at least the next four years or longer than that if it’s needed,” Abbott said.

Abbott didn’t specify where in the state he identified the 4,000 prison cells that could hold people who are in the country illegally.

Data from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards says that as of November, the three TDCJ units – Briscoe, Lopez and Sergovia – that house migrants with low-level offenses as part of Operation Lone Star have just over 2,000 open beds.

“It just blows my mind. I don’t understand how we have capacity to offer 4,000 beds to this, to this program that the governor is talking about, when we don’t have space and capacity and staff for our own people,” Krish Gundu, the co-founder and director of the Texas Jail Project, said.

According to the most recent Sunset Advisory Commission Staff report, the inmate population is projected to potentially outgrow the agency’s current operating capacity by the end of fiscal year 2025.

Gundu said several counties in Texas – including Harris County, home to Houston – have had to ship some pretrial detainees to Louisiana and Mississippi.

“The cost to the families and taxpayers is enormous,” Gundu said. “Families are hurting, communities are hurting and instead of taking care of ourselves, I don’t understand how we’ve found 4,000 beds to offer.”