Trump wants to prosecute all illegal border crossings without splitting up families. That will be a challenge.

sufficient numbers of families to have any impact on the current influx.”

The two family detention centers in Texas are operated under intergovernmental service agreements that allow for ICE to work with local jurisdictions, which hand operations over to private prison companies, CoreCivic and the GEO Group.

Bob Libal, executive director of Grassroots Leadership, an immigrants rights group, said the government goes through these agreements because they’re faster than a direct contract with the operating companies. With the new federal policy and increased detention of families, he expects to see solicitations for new family centers.

But those structures still require environmental assessments and take time and money to build. The government could also look to temporary, more immediate fixes.

“If DHS tries to build family detention facilities quickly and cheaply, the result will be awful,” Landy said. “The worst case scenario is what we’re seeing in Tornillo.”

When federal authorities needed more space for children, the government quickly erected a “tent city” in Tornillo, near El Paso. By setting up on federal property, the government was able to skirt state licensing requirements for detaining children, according to Greenberg. But it’s unclear if family detention centers could be handled the same way.

“If they try to do that [for families], there will surely be litigation on what are the standards that have to apply,” Greenberg said, adding that families require different services and accommodations than unaccompanied children.

The U.S. government has set up a temporary shelter for families before, though. In 2014, when an influx of Central American families came to the United States to escape violent environments in their home countries, the Obama Administration converted a federal law enforcement training center in the small town of Artesia, New Mexico, into a temporary family detention center, capable of holding up to 700 people.

The facility, which consisted of three barracks, held people as they were processed for deportation or sought asylum. The facility was closed months later, when the families being held there were transferred to the newly opened, permanent detention center in Dilley.

Libal said if the government moves to construct more temporary or permanent detention centers, it will face harsh opposition.

In any community, “They’re going to be fought every step of the way, in the courts and in town halls and in county commission meetings and in the streets,” he said.

Jolie McCullough reports on Texas criminal justice issues and policy for the Texas Tribune. Emma Platoff is a breaking news and civil courts reporter at the Texas Tribune. Marilyn Haigh contributed reporting. This story is published courtesy of the Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.