With billions of dollars in its budget, the Department of Homeland Security is now eyeing three potential new Border Patrol stations across Arizona, according to an online database that catalogs upcoming federal contracting opportunities.
Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 11, DHS’s Acquisition Forecast Planning System listed project descriptions for new stations in Three Points, Casa Grande and Sonoita — communities that each have an existing Border Patrol station. Each new station would cost more than $100 million and could accommodate a total of 1,000 agents, according to the database. The agency has not posted solicitations for contractor bids on the projects, though it estimates it will select contractors by the first quarter of 2027.
AZPM sent separate inquiries to U.S. Customs and Border Protection about each station. For each inquiry, a CBP spokesperson responded with the same general statement:
“We are in the early planning stages for new and modernized Border Patrol stations and checkpoints across the Southwest border,” an agency spokesperson said. “These investments will replace aging facilities, strengthen operations in key locations, and give our agents the resources they need to stop human and drug smugglers.”
Federal law requires DHS to complete certain benchmarks — like an environmental impact statement — before completing a project like a Border Patrol station. Under the current Trump administration, however, the agency has waived certain checks and balances to more quickly pursue border-related infrastructure projects. Approval from local government entities is also not required for the federal government to move forward with border-related projects, though a stagnant Democrat-backed bill in Congress has sought to change that.
CBP did not answer AZPM’s specific questions about the new stations, including inquiries about how the agency would gather community input.
“As potential locations are evaluated, CBP will seek input from local communities before projects move forward,” the statement noted.
The possible expansion comes as immigration-related arrests soar nationwide and in Arizona, with the majority of those detained lacking a criminal history, according to the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA. In July, another DHS agency — Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE — detained more than 2,000 people in Arizona, with less than 1% having a violent criminal conviction.
In an interview Thursday, Bennett Burke, a member of the grassroots group Pima Resists ICE, expressed alarm over the new stations.
“This entire thing is a reckless acceleration of enforcement and it's a runaway train,” he said. “And it's only a matter of time before it just goes off the rails.”
According to CBP’s statement, each project would be funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocated more than $165 billion to DHS when the bill was signed into law last summer. About $5 billion of that total allocation was set aside for projects related to facilities owned, leased or operated by CBP — including Border Patrol stations and checkpoints.
Here’s what we know so far about the new stations:
Three Points##
- Projected number of agents: 500
- Estimated cost: More than $100 million
On Aug. 21, CBP specialist John Petrilla penned a letter to Pima County Clerk Melissa Manriquez describing plans for a Border Patrol station west of Tucson. The agency, Petrilla noted, was conducting an environmental assessment and requesting input from the county about the station’s “likely or anticipated environmental effects.”
The new station, Petrilla’s letter said, would be constructed near Three Points — a community along Ajo Highway that sits about 15 miles west of Tucson city limits.
Petrilla described an ultimate goal of “increasing the probability of apprehension of those that have entered into the U.S. illegally.” The letter was provided to AZPM by Pima County Supervisor Jen Allen, whose district includes the proposed project area.
“Building more infrastructure for this agency that operates as though it is above the rule of law is not welcome here,” Allen told Lookout News, which originally reported on the new Three Points station.
Already, the Three Points area has one Border Patrol station, several miles from the Tohono O’odham Nation. But the new station, according to Petrilla’s letter, would sit about four miles east of the existing one.
Tohono O'odham Chairman Verlon Jose told AZPM the Nation has "not yet entered into meaningful consultation with CBP" regarding a new Three Points Station.
"The federal government has claimed for months that they have operational control of the southern border and as it pertains to the Tohono O'odham Nation, we agree. The border is secure, thanks to our joint security measures," Jose said in a statement.
He added: "Let's not forget that these are taxpayer funds being squandered on massive Border Patrol complexes and double walls. At a time when people can't afford basic commodities like gas and groceries, they should not be wasting precious tax dollars."
According to Petrilla’s letter, the new station would span about 87 acres — roughly the equivalent of 65 football fields. A search through Pima County’s land parcel database shows the project site sits south of a Buddhist temple and north of a cluster of mobile homes.
According to DHS’s Acquisition Planning Forecast System, the new Three Points station would accommodate 500 agents, with an estimated cost of more than $100 million. DHS estimates it will begin soliciting contractor bids for the project on Sept. 25.
Sonoita-Elgin##
- Projected number of agents: 200
- Estimated cost: More than $100 million
Separately, DHS is considering a new Border Patrol station in Sonoita-Elgin, a rural corner of Santa Cruz County about 50 miles southeast of Tucson. The new station would accommodate 200 new agents and its price tag would exceed $100 million, according to the agency’s Acquisition Forecast Planning System.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Fanning, whose district includes the proposed project area, told AZPM he received a letter from CBP about the facility in early August. The letter largely mirrors the one sent to Pima County leadership.
Fanning’s letter, also written by Petrilla of CBP, describes two possible project paths. One path, listed as the preferred alternative, would involve the construction of a 40-acre station about four miles southeast of Sonoita. According to the Patagonia Regional Times, who initially reported on the potential station, the patch of land sits adjacent to Elgin Elementary School. The other project path appears to propose an expansion of an already existing Border Patrol station in Sonoita, which sits on the intersection of Highways 82 and 83.
In a response letter dated Aug. 29, Fanning asked CBP to provide more information about the station, including its impacts on traffic, public safety, noise and quality of life. He also asked the agency to “clearly identify” how it would gather input from local residents.
"Meaningful local engagement should occur before a final site decision is made and should provide the community with sufficient information to understand the proposal, ask questions, identify concerns, and review potential impacts,” the county supervisor noted.
Casa Grande##
- Projected number of agents: 300
- Estimated cost: More than $100 million
The Acquisition Forecast Planning System also lists plans for a potential Border Patrol station about 70 miles north of Tucson in Casa Grande. The station would accommodate 300 agents and cost upwards of $100 million, according to the database.
Already, Border Patrol operates a station in Casa Grande along Interstate 10. The database does not describe a location for the new Casa Grande Station.
James Daniels, a spokesperson for the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, told AZPM county leadership had not been made aware of the project. A spokesperson for the City of Casa Grande did not immediately respond to a similar inquiry.
Checkpoint projects in Santa Cruz, Yuma counties##
In addition to new Border Patrol stations in Three Points, Sonoita-Elgin and Casa Grande, CBP is also gearing up for construction projects on two Border Patrol checkpoints — one in Santa Cruz County, and another in Yuma County.
About 23 miles north of the border stands a decades-old Border Patrol checkpoint along I-19 in Amado. DHS’s Acquisition Forecast Planning System describes plans to expand the checkpoint, with a cost ranging between $50 million and $100 million.
The details offered in the federal database are scarce, though the website describes “the design-build of a new checkpoint,” along with “supporting facilities at a preferred location adjacent” to the current checkpoint.
Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva slammed the expansion — along with the new Three Points station — in a video posted to Instagram earlier this week.
"Thanks to congressional Republicans, DHS has more money than they know what to do with,” she said.
Meanwhile, the agency is planning to construct a Border Patrol checkpoint in a remote stretch of Yuma County, just north of the Barry Goldwater Range. The Acquisition Forecast Planning System describes plans for a “new Wellton checkpoint and supporting facilities” just west of Dateland, an unincorporated community clustered around Interstate I-8.
