On a patch of desert straddling Socorro and Clint one late afternoon, David Alvarado sat on his horse beneath a towering American elm and surveyed the surrounding land.

“This area has grown a lot, so my spaces to ride are getting smaller and smaller,” he said.

Born and raised in this part of eastern El Paso County, the 40-year-old rides his quarter horse, “Pajarito,” or “Little Bird,” daily across the sloping hills between North Loop and Interstate 10. On Wednesday, he was chatting under the tree with a friend about the industrial buildings slowly encroaching on this once-isolated stretch of the Lower Valley.

While both men lament the loss of pristine desert space where they’ve lived for years, they disagree over one industrial complex standing about a mile away: three massive structures purchased by the federal government in January for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that may begin next year.

“He’s on one side, and I’m on the other side,” Alvarado said.

His friend, who asked not to be identified because of work ties to the U.S. Department of Justice, supports the local ICE operation, calling the upcoming facilities “a luxury” for immigrants coming to the U.S. from deplorable places.

“They are detainees, not prisoners…” the friend began explaining.

“They’re human beings,” Alvarado interjected, adding that he did not support the federal government “dividing everyone and separating families.”

It’s a debate raging across the country, sowing disagreement in government capitols, on the internet and on broadcast airwaves, and now shaping conversations between friends on horseback rides in the Borderland.

For this small community, industrial development and the planned ICE facility have brought big-city issues to rural life, disrupting the natural landscape with warehouses and roads and thrusting the bitter immigration debate to the forefront.

“I’m selling my property, and I’m moving because of all this. I’ve had enough,” said Patrick Hammett, a 47-year-old welder who has lived in this community for 14 years.

Leaning on the fence outside his home, he said, “I got two little kids. I don't want them around any of this (expletive).”

The federal government’s $123 million purchase of the three Socorro warehouses, each occupying nearly 300,000 square feet, sparked opposition from area lawmakers and some residents who believed the facilities would house more than 8,000 people arrested for immigration violations.

Concerns were raised about local water and sewer capacity, and government officials have since said plans have been modified. The warehouses will not be massive detention centers. Instead, they may include a mix of detention and ICE training facilities.

The warehouses are on the outer perimeter of the city of Socorro, a predominantly Hispanic and Democratic community of about 38,000 residents with a large immigrant population – about 32%, according to the latest U.S. Census figures. A pocket of Republicans, like Hammett, also lives here.

One of Socorro’s Republican strongholds is Hammett’s ranching neighborhood of about 20 large-platted homes, which sit just below the hill where the future ICE facility is planned. Although he is against the development of an industrial sector near his home, Hammett strongly supports ICE and its national campaign of arresting suspected illegal immigrants.

“We have laws, don’t we? You break the law, you get in trouble,” he said.

Around the corner lives Joe Contreras, 53, a shop foreman for an El Paso dealership. He has lived on his 2 ½ acres for 13 years. He also expressed frustration with the warehouses, but was adamant about his support for ICE.

“I myself came from Mexico, and we were over here. We did it right,” he said. “Back in the 1980s, we were immigrants, and our parents got us our citizenship. How come everybody can’t do that? Why do we have to be holding so many people and helping them out?

While expressing support for ICE policies, Contreras also said he did not like seeing suspected illegal immigrants being arrested at work sites.

“Leave the working man alone,” he said.

Obtaining citizenship or legal residency was easier in the 1980s, with shorter wait times and a more streamlined process. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 also granted legal status to millions of immigrants who paid a fee and provided documentation proving they had lived in the United States since 1982. Farmworkers who proved they had spent at least 90 days of employment in the country also qualified for lawful permanent residency.

Under today’s immigration system, a Mexican immigrant could wait between five and 25 years, if they are qualified to apply.

Resident Edgar Solis is a farrier – an equine hoof care specialist who fits horseshoes – and describes himself and other nearby households as “100% conservative.”

“I don’t know anybody in this little colonia who didn’t vote for Trump. Most people here are Christian,” said Solis, who described his political views on the Socorro ICE facility clearly: “If you’re a liberal, you’re concerned for the migrants. If you’re conservative, you’re more concerned for the neighborhood, the people here.”

Solis also said he worries about security if someone were to escape from a detention center near his home.

“There’s a huge possibility that he’s going to encounter someone who’s willing to protect their home because all of us are like that. Because we have that right,” he said. “You’re going to think about your family before you ever think about a migrant that you don’t know at all.”

Solis also expressed sympathy for the people recently killed by ICE agents – Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine – and said it was horrible to see that online.

“Nobody wants to see that,” he said. “Not even conservatives want to see that.”

Those recent ICE shootings are also on the mind of Socorro Mayor Rudy Cruz, who said he was frustrated that the federal government has not discussed with local law enforcement or elected officials how to lessen the chances of residents being harmed during immigration raids.

“I would be heartbroken to see something like that happen here. I would be questioning myself, did I do enough?” he said. But city leaders have limited options with the ICE policies.

“We have no control over what the federal government operations look like,” Cruz said. “Their operations take place daily without us even knowing.”

As a Tigua Native American with a wife and family of Mexican ancestry, Cruz said he understands the bloodlines and border dynamics that define the Lower Valley.

“I know who I represent. It is a multicultural identity, a strong presence of people with ties to Mexico,” he said.

This adds political complexity to the mayor’s role as the city prepares for the ICE facility.

While most people in his city are Democrats and opposed to ICE operations, Cruz also represents Republicans – like those living near the planned ICE facility – who support President Trump and his administration’s immigration crackdown.

“It’s not whether you’re Democratic or Republican, whether you’re left or right,” Cruz said. “We represent people in Socorro, and of this region that, surprisingly, still support the Trump administration.”

Until the ICE facility begins operating, which is expected in 2027, Cruz is focused on making sure “the tax-paying residents of the city are not going to be the ones to foot the bill for that facility,” he said.

“And we just want the federal government to communicate with us,” he added.

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ICE in the backyard: Rural neighbors wrestle with plans for massive immigration facility