DILLEY 鈥� A sign in the window at the post office in Dilley, Texas, reads the town motto: 鈥淎 Slice of the Good Life.鈥�
Just a few thousand people live in this small, rural community about an hour and 15 minutes from the U.S. Mexico border. But good paying jobs can sometimes still be hard to come by, said Reynaldo Trevi帽o, who was born here.
Agriculture is key to the county鈥檚 economy. The oil business is still steady. Folks can work at the fast food restaurant, Trevi帽o remarked, chatting at the local Burger King on a Monday afternoon.
Jobs at the , he said, pay better.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see anything wrong with that individual working there if he has an economic decision to make,鈥� said Trevi帽o, a retired Air Force civilian contractor who now chairs the local Democratic party.
Local voters here went for Donald Trump last year 鈥� more than 60% of those in the county who turned out. This, plus the financial benefits of the facility, Trevi帽o said, make community leaders reluctant to be critical of the facility: 鈥淎 lot of the political folks will stay neutral.鈥�
Texas has become an enthusiastic partner in President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration policies. More immigrants are being detained here than any other state 鈥� about in its as of this month 鈥� and state leaders have also offered the administration land to build more.
Now, are at the center of Trump鈥檚 plans to bring back the policy of detaining and deporting migrant families.
The detention center in Dilley, called the and run by private prison operator CoreCivic, will reopen soon. It can house up to 2,400 people. A is already detaining families.
Dilley City Administrator Henry Arredondo understands the financial impact better than most. When the detention center last summer, Arredondo said the city lost 500 to 600 jobs, money from hotels and sales tax revenue.
But, he acknowledged, the issue of family detention is sensitive.
鈥淭he human beings that are going to be there,鈥� Arredondo said, 鈥渢hey need to be treated with dignity and respect.鈥�
Texas and Trump
Family detention centers are controversial.
Child behavioral experts say keeping children in these facilities deprives them of regular activities like going to school and playing with other kids. It can also affect their mental health and psychological development.
In 2021, the Biden administration in detention. The facility in Dilley, which housed only adults after this policy change, was eventually shuttered because of high operating costs.
About 100 miles due east, in Karnes City, families are already being held at the immigrant detention center there.
The GEO Group, another private prison company, ecently announced it had updated its contract with the federal government to detain a 鈥渕ixed population鈥� 鈥� which means they鈥檒l house families instead of only adult men.
It鈥檚 unclear how many families are detained there now.
The GEO Group referred questions to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE did not return emails or calls from The Texas Newsroom.
Asked about the families that will be detained at these facilities, Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas will work closely with Trump 鈥渢o secure the border.鈥�
鈥淎bbott fully supports the Trump Administration using every tool and strategy to aid in the deportation of illegal immigrants,鈥� Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement.
Venezuelan family detained
Laura Flores-Dixit, managing attorney of the , represents one of the families at the Karnes facility.
She said the family of four, with kids ages 6 and 8, is from Venezuela and was seeking political asylum.
According to her account, they arrived at a U.S. port of entry about a year and a half ago and received a notice to appear in immigration court scheduled for a later date. When they showed up to court on that day, she said, they learned they weren鈥檛 in the court system and then they tried but failed to file a new asylum application.
鈥淪o here they were in this limbo. They鈥檙e trying to do the right thing being told that they can鈥檛,鈥� Flores-Dixit said in an interview with The Texas Newsroom in her office in San Antonio. 鈥淎nd then, in comes a new administration that says that people [who] do not have their application filed and in process that they should just self deport.鈥�
The family, who was living in Ohio, tried to do just that, she said. They headed to a Canadian port of entry to try to request asylum there but Flores-Dixit said they were detained and turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection 鈥� which sent them to Texas.
鈥淲e're immensely concerned about children being detained at any time,鈥� Flores-Dixit said. 鈥淚t's our fervent belief that there's no humane way to detain children.鈥�
鈥榃hat goes on behind those walls鈥�
The is a flat sprawling building, tightly secured with black metal fencing, gates and cameras along a two-lane farm market road.
Mike Guerrero is having lunch a mile away at Becky鈥檚 Cafe downtown. He鈥檚 a frequent customer and a lifetime resident of the county. Guerrero said just about everyone in this area knows someone who immigrated 鈥� legally or illegally 鈥� and he worries about the detained kids.
鈥淭hat'd be a good idea to house the whole families in those [centers], until they decide, you know, what they're going to do with them,鈥� Guerrero said. 鈥淚 don't agree in separating the kids.鈥�
Like Dilley, Karnes County voted conservatively in 2024. Nearly four in five voters here chose Trump last year.
Also like Dilley, Karnes County Judge Wade Hedtke pointed to economics when asked about the detention center here. The GEO Group has been a good partner for the county for 20 years, he said, bringing good-paying jobs to the area.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e employed a lot of our locals,鈥� Hedtke said. 鈥淏ut as far as what goes on behind those walls, the county doesn鈥檛 have anything to do with that.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Stella M. Ch谩vez at schavez@kera.org. You can follow Stella on X .
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