DALLAS — In a letter to the president-elect, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham offered 1,402 acres of state-owned land in Starr County for the construction of "deportation facilities."
Such buildings would house immigrants who have been detained and are awaiting removal from the United States. President-Elect Donald Trump has promised the "largest" deportation program in U.S. history will begin on his first day in office.
Immigration attorneys and researchers contend the United States does not currently have the infrastructure required to deport millions of people in the manner Trump proposes. The federal government would almost certainly have to erect housing for those immigrants being processed for deportation.
"Texas is with them," Buckingham told WFAA. "We are standing, side-by-side, to fight this battle. We're going to make these communities safe. We want these criminals off our American soil."
The Texas General Land Office acquired the Sheerin Ranch tract in October, initially so the state could build a border wall on the property. When Trump secured the presidency, Buckingham said she and staffers determined the property could help his efforts to deport immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
"Our offer just says, 'Hey, if we can be of help, let us help,'" Buckingham said. "If not, and they have another plan, that's fine, too. We just want to get the job done."
It's not clear how much the row crop farm cost, but public records indicate the General Land Office spent more than $4 million on closing fees.
Documents from the Starr County clerk's office show the property was previously owned by a limited liability company, Sheerin Real Properties. Its president is a prominent dryland farmer who owns properties all over the valley.
Buckingham said the land will continue to be farmed for onions, canola, cotton, and other southern Texas crop staples.
The Sheerin Ranch is steps away from the Rio Grande River. Cartel members have sexually abused migrant woman and children on the land "for some time," Buckingham alleged in her letter to the president-elect.
Buckingham said she does not intend to relinquish the land to the federal government. Instead, she envisions a land-lease arrangement.
She said she's not spoken to anyone in the Trump administration about the idea. The transition team has not publicly acknowledged her offer.
“Local and state officials on the frontlines of the Harris-Biden border invasion have been suffering for four years and are eager for President Trump to return to the Oval Office," Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, in response to a specific question about Buckingham's letter. "On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history.”
Buckingham met Wednesday with Isidro Garza, a prominent League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) member. In an interview, Garza called Buckingham a "great human."
In May, LULAC awarded Buckingham its Conscious Builders Award.
Garza said he is anxious because the president-elect has not yet detailed his deportation plan, but he said he is "cautiously optimistic" about Buckingham's proposal. It is important that migrants are treated with dignity, he said.
"(Buckingham) told me, no more than two hours ago, that it is not her intent at all to divide families and everything else that goes with our failed immigration policy we've had in Texas," Garza said. "When she makes decisions, they're going to be based on conscience and not on political convenience."
"I can guarantee the public that LULAC will have a voice - not necessarily that we're going to get our way," Garza continued. "We will have a voice and we do have a relationship of trust with the commissioner."
Census-takers estimate there are more than 11 million people in the United States illegally. Trump has said he will use the National Guard to remove them from the country.