Times staff report

A new temporary holding site for immigrants in El Paso is expected to be operational by May 1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.

CBP awarded a contract Thursday to Deployed Resources LLC of Rome, N.Y., to build what the federal agency calls “soft-sided temporary facilities in El Paso and Donna, Texas.”

CBP has not released where in El Paso the site will be located. However, on Saturday, the framework of what could become a large tent structure was seen laid out at a Border Patrol station in Northeast El Paso, where migrants recently were moved from beneath a temporary processing center under an international bridge in Downtown El Paso.

Donna is in far South Texas, about 44 miles from Reynosa, Mexico, and 12½ miles east of McAllen.

More:Trump administration to withhold bail for asylum seekers, advocates vow to fight policy

The $36.9 million contract is for a four-month base period, with four one-month options, the news release said.

In the release, John P. Sanders, the CBP’s chief operating officer who is performing the duties of commissioner, said: “The humanitarian and border security crisis on our Southwest border has stretched our resources and processing facilities to the breaking point. These temporary facilities will support our efforts to process, care for and transfer the unprecedented number of families and unaccompanied children crossing the border illegally each day.”

The sites will have shower trailers, chemical toilets and sinks, laundry trailers, sleeping mats, kitchen equipment, personal property storage boxes, office space, interior and perimeter closed-circuit TV, lockers, security, power and HVAC services, the news release said.

The structures will be weatherproof and provide areas for eating, sleeping, recreation and personal hygiene, the release said.

More:US plans more tents in El Paso, elsewhere in Texas to hold immigrants in camps

CBP’s Office of Facilities and Asset Management will oversee the construction of the facilities.

The temporary facilities will each hold up to 500 people until they are transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The contract was awarded under the authority of a program to limit competition because the facilities need to be established by April 30, according to the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Migrants held under bridge in El Paso

Most recently, a temporary processing center for migrants under the Paso Del Norte International Bridge in El Paso sparked an outcry after reports of migrants being held behind fencing and concertina and barbed wire, with thin, Mylar blankets for warmth.

Customs and Border Protection moved the immigrants to facilities at the U.S. Border Patrol station in Northeast El Paso.

The Border Patrol site on Hondo Pass Drive allows asylum-seekers to await processing indoors before they are released to El Paso shelters, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said at the time.

More:Housing immigrants under bridge 'did not have to happen,' advocates say after CBP shifts

Tornillo tent city for migrant children

A previous temporary tent shelter for migrant children at the port of entry in Tornillo drew protesters from across the nation before it was closed.

The shelter in Tornillo first opened in June to handle the influx of children entering federal custody as officials started enforcing the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which led to children being separated from their parents at the border.

The shelter grew in scope and housed as many as 2,700 children in mid-December. These children were not among those separated from their parents, but were minors who were apprehended attempting to cross the border without a guardian.

By Jan. 11, no migrant children were being held at the center.

More:Official: No migrant children remain at Tornillo tent shelter as it heads toward closure

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