Between November 14 and 20, 2025, federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 233 new criminal immigration-related cases, the highest single-week total in the district in the past 10 years.
From the beginning of October to mid-November 2025, the district recorded 1,709 new immigration-related criminal filings, also a 10-year high for that period. KPBS records a spike in habeas petitions, mostly from detainees with no prior convictions who challenge bond denials under the BIA decision in Matter of Hurtado, which strips immigration judges of jurisdiction over bond hearings for individuals who entered without admission or parole. This has made bond release significantly more difficult and resulted in mandatory detention for most of these defendants. This has dropped bond releases to around 5%.
The increase reflects a policy requiring criminal prosecution rather than civil removal for most unlawful re-entries and for human smuggling cases involving five or more individuals.
The average daily cost of detention per person in ICE facilities, including the El Paso Processing Center, is estimated at $150-$200. These conditions force counties to request emergency funds for 2026. As of late November 2025, the earliest open slots for bond hearings in the El Paso magistrate calendars were in January 2026 only.
The U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons, stated that the prosecutions prioritize transnational criminal organizations and repeat border violators. Public defenders note that many defendants have no prior criminal record and cite strained detention conditions.
The Justice Department says its “Operation Take Back America” initiative in the Western District of Texas has largely succeeded in shifting nearly all repeat illegal-entry cases and smuggling cases involving five or more individuals from civil deportation proceedings to federal criminal prosecution, as originally planned.
The DHS FY2026 appropriations, enacted in July 2025, provide $11.1 billion for ICE operations, along with $3.5 billion in state detention reimbursements and additional border-technology funding. These resources secure the program for the near future and enable further growth.
The El Paso Processing Center is currently holding more than 1,200 detainees against its rated capacity of 840. Sustaining or expanding the current pace of filings and detentions will require additional judicial, facility and budgetary resources in the coming fiscal year.
Artem Kolisnichenko is a freelance journalist specializing in criminal justice and immigration issues.