Texas offers Trump 1,400-acre ranch for mass deportation plan

Officials in Texas have offered President-elect Trump a 1,400-acre ranch for his mass deportation plan.

Dawn Buckingham, land commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, said in a letter to Trump Tuesday that her office was “fully prepared” to work with federal agencies that are going to be involved in Trump’s immigration plan, and specifically deportation.

Buckingham offered Trump a 1,402-acre lot in Starr County. The lot is owned by the Texas General Land Office and is roughly 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas.

She said the agency is ready to work with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the U.S. Border Patrol to build a facility on the land for “the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history.”

“I am committed to using every available means at my disposal to gain complete operational security of our border,” Buckingham wrote.

The letter and offering of land were first reported by The Texas Tribune. Last month, the state bought the land along the U.S.-Mexico border and has plans to build a wall.

In the letter, Buckingham criticized her predecessor for not allowing a border wall to be built on the property. Those actions “enabled cartel members and violent criminals to sexually abuse migrant women and children on this land,” she said.

On Monday, Trump signaled he would declare an immigration national emergency and use military assets to support his mass deportation plan when he returns to office.

Immigration advocates are bracing for harsh and swift executive action during Trump’s term, but questions remain about how he would legally and logistically deport millions of people.

While states like Texas are offering their help to Trump in his plan, others are looking to prevent harm to migrants ahead of Trump’s inauguration day.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council passed a “sanctuary city” ordinance to protect migrants in the city. Sanctuary cities are local areas that “decline to cooperate completely with the federal detention requests” for undocumented immigrants.