HOUSTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham on Tuesday said the largest red state will provide more land for the mass deportation operation planned by the incoming Donald Trump administration.
"We have 13 million acres around the state, and if there's something that meets the federal government's needs, we want them to be able to utilize that," Buckingham told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.
She said her office is identifying property to be ready for the Trump administration when they take office in January. The new project is called "Jocelyn's Initiative" after Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl from Houston who police say was killed by two Venezuelan men who were in the country illegally.
Buckingham wrote in a letter to Trump last week that the state would offer 1,402 acres of land in the Starr County "to be used to construct deportation facilities."
In an interview with Fox News, Buckingham said she is "100% on board" with the president-elect's promise on mass deportation.
In comparison, Democratic governors of California and Arizona, two other states bordering Mexico, reportedly have pledged not to aid the Trump administration's mass deportation plans.
Trump confirmed last week he would declare a national emergency to launch his mass deportation plans as soon as he enters office in January.
The president-elect's vow to carry out mass deportations is certain to encounter logistical and legal challenges, like the ones that stifled promises from his first campaign once he assumed office, said a report from The Texas Tribune. ■