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Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) sent a letter to Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director William K. Marshall voicing her concerns about the announced closure of La Tuna. In her letter, she includes a list of 18 questions she requests the BOP to answer.

The full text of the letter can be found here or below: 

Director Marshall:

I write regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) July 1, 2026, announcement that La Tuna FCI, Federal Satellite Low, and Satellite Camp in Anthony, Texas will be permanently closed. Despite the direct impact the closure of La Tuna will have on my constituents and the surrounding community who are employed by the BOP, my office was not given prior notice of the decision.

BOP cited extended infrastructure and staffing challenges as the basis for these closures. However, BOP acknowledges a deferred maintenance backlog exceeding $4 billion, while also receiving $5 billion in from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and retaining billions in FY 2026 spending authority. If the agency has billions of dollars available to address infrastructure, maintenance, staffing, and operational needs, my constituents deserve to know why BOP is choosing permanent closure and layoffs at La Tuna rather than using available resources to preserve federal jobs and support a carceral system that is already strained.

This decision affects real people. It affects the federal employees whose livelihoods are now at risk, the families who rely on those jobs, and the surrounding communities that would economically suffer as a result of such massive layoffs. It also impacts the people detained at these facilities who are now facing relocation to other sites, away from their legal representation and resources. Detainees who are local to the region and will need to be relocated are also facing further separation from their local family and support systems.

These closures also affect public safety. If BOP truly believes that they are an “agency like no other” that ensures “federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, human, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure..,” then it cannot simultaneously allow federal prison capacity, jobs, and infrastructure to deteriorate without explanation. After receiving an unprecedented budget influx, cutting jobs and resources from a prison system already facing dire staffing and infrastructure challenges does not demonstrate a serious governing strategy to keep our communities safe.

At a minimum, my constituents deserve the answers to the following questions:

1. When did BOP make the decision to permanently close La Tuna FCI, Federal Satellite Low, and Satellite Camp, and who was consulted before the announcement was made?
2. Why were my office and local government bodies not notified before the public announcement?
3. How many employees are currently assigned to La Tuna, including full-time staff, part-time staff, contractors, and employees working in caretaker, administrative, maintenance, or security roles?
4. How many La Tuna employees will be subject to a reduction-in-force, and what is the timeline for those layoffs?
5. What steps is BOP taking to ensure affected La Tuna employees are offered continued federal employment, priority placement, relocation assistance, severance, and other available support?
6. Will the current inmate population at La Tuna remain in BOP custody at a BOP facility, or are there plans to transfer the population to privately owned and operated prisons?
7. Has BOP identified any nearby federal positions, including within BOP, DOJ, or other federal agencies, for displaced La Tuna employees who wish to remain in federal service?
8. What specific deferred maintenance needs, infrastructure failures, staffing shortages, or operational challenges led BOP to determine that La Tuna must be permanently closed rather than repaired, maintained, or repurposed?
9. Please provide all facility condition assessments, staffing analyses, cost estimates, budget analyses, and decision memoranda used to justify the permanent closure of La Tuna?
10. Please provide all infrastructure improvements that have been made to the facility in the last decade and their associated costs.
11. Did BOP consider using its more than $5 billion in unobligated funds to address conditions at La Tuna before deciding to permanently close the facility? If not, why not?
12. What is BOP’s current plan for the La Tuna property after permanent closure?
13. Will La Tuna remain under BOP or Department of Justice control, be declared excess property, or be transferred to the General Services Administration?
14. Has BOP or any other federal agency had discussions with the General Services Administration regarding the transfer, sale, or future management of the La Tuna property?
15. Has BOP or any other federal agency discussed using La Tuna for immigration detention, migrant processing, contractor-operated detention, or any other detention-related purpose?
16. Will BOP commit that La Tuna will not be transferred, leased, sold, or repurposed for immigration detention, private detention operations, or any other detention-related use without prior notice to Congress?
17. Will BOP preserve all records related to the decision to close La Tuna and any discussions regarding the future use, transfer, sale, lease, or disposal of the property?
18. Will BOP provide my office with a full briefing on the closure decision, employee impacts, fiscal justification, and future use of the La Tuna property before any further action is taken?