 Interactive map of South Texas Family Residential Center | |
| Location | 1925 W.Highway 85 Dilley, Texas, Frio County United States, 78017[1] |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 28°39′36″N99°11′20″W / 28.659966°N 99.188996°W /28.659966; -99.188996 |
| Status | Reopened 2025 |
| Security class | Immigration detention facility |
| Capacity | 2,400 |
| Opened | 2014 |
| Closed | 2024 |
| Managed by | CoreCivic (known as CCA - Corrections Corporation of America) |
| Director | Jose Rodriguez Jr. |
TheSouth Texas Family Residential Center is the largest immigrant detention center in the United States. First opened in December 2014 inDilley, Texas, it has a capacity of 2,400 and is intended to detain mainly women and children from Central America.[2]
On June 12, 2015, it was reported that the facility was holding 1,735 people, approximately 1,000 of whom were children.[3] In filings dated September 30, 2018, the operator stated that the property was 100% full. By April 2019, there were 499 women and children in the facility.[4]
CoreCivic, previously called "Corrections Corporation of America", is seeking a license to operate the facility as a General Residential Operation but litigation was brought byTexas RioGrande Legal Aid on behalf of Grassroots Leadership and the detainees themselves to block the licensing by theTexas Department of Family and Protective Services.[5]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) closed the detention center in June 2024, citing cost savings to add more beds in other facilities as theBiden administration implemented new border restrictions.[6] In 2025, CoreCivic announced a new contract with ICE to reopen the facility.[7]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awarded the previous facility operators CoreCivic and Target Hospitality a 5-year contract in 2025, aiming to immediately resume operations.[8]
The site is located approximately 100 miles north of theRio Grande and 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, southwest ofDilley, Texas, in Frio County.[2] The address is 1925 W.Highway 85, Dilley, Texas, United States, zip code 78017.[1]
The 50-acre site contains 80 small, tan-colored, two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottages in which the families will live. The cottages can house up to eight people and contain bunk beds as well as baby cribs. They also have a flat-screen television. There is a kitchen, but cooking is not allowed in order to prevent fires. The cottages are connected by dirt roads.
There are also recreational and medical facilities, a school, trailer classrooms, a library, a basketball court, playgrounds, and email access. A cafeteria is open for 12 hours a day, but snacks can be obtained at any hour.[2]
The site was formerly a camp used by oilfield workers.[9]
The South Texas Family Residential Center was at first only able to accommodate 480 people when the first group of residents arrive in December 2014 from a Border Patrol training camp located inArtesia, New Mexico. The capacity was 2,400 residents by May 2014 with a staff of 600. It was eventually planned to have a capacity of 3,000.[2][10] It is intended to detain mostly women and children from Central America.[11]
The facility opened in 2014 and is operated mainly byCoreCivic andTarget Hospitality.[12][13] On June 10, 2024 CoreCivic received a notification from ICE stating their intention to terminate their contract as they move to close the facility due to high costs.[14]
Local sources indicated the United States Government pays approximately $19 million monthly to operate the facility.
The operating cost of the facility will be $296 per person per day according to a statement made to reporters by an official atImmigration and Customs Enforcement.
The warden is Janice Killian.
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