U.S. Customs and Border Protection is moving forward with plans for a new Border Patrol station on roughly 87 acres of federal land near Three Points, Arizona, as the agency looks to expand its presence in the Tucson area.

The proposed facility would be located along State Route 86 in Pima County, roughly southwest of Tucson. According to a CBP scoping letter obtained by the nonprofit newsroom LOOKOUT, the agency is preparing an Environmental Assessment to examine the potential effects of constructing, operating and maintaining the station.

CBP says the facility is intended to accommodate additional Border Patrol agents and personnel assigned to the Tucson Area of Responsibility. The agency stated that the project is intended to increase the probability of apprehending people who illegally enter the United States.

The proposal represents another potential expansion of federal border-enforcement infrastructure in Southern Arizona.

Why Three Points Matters to Border Enforcement

Three Points sits west of Tucson near a large expanse of Sonoran Desert and is connected to State Route 86, an important transportation route through the region.

The proposed station would give Border Patrol a larger permanent facility in an area where agents already operate across difficult desert terrain.

The existing Three Points operation has served the area for years, but the new proposal would provide CBP with a significantly larger site for its regional operations.

The agency’s stated objective is straightforward: provide additional space for personnel and improve its ability to respond to illegal crossings in the Tucson sector.

An 87-Acre Federal Facility

The proposed station would occupy approximately 87 acres of Bureau of Land Management property along State Route 86.

The current stage of the project is important. CBP is not yet announcing a completed station or a finalized construction schedule. Instead, the agency is beginning the environmental review process required before the project can move forward.

The scoping letter gives Pima County an opportunity to provide information about potential environmental effects and any state or local permitting requirements that could affect the project’s design, construction or operation.

A formal public comment period is expected after CBP releases a draft Environmental Assessment.

That means residents and other interested parties have not yet reached the final stage of the public review process.

Border Enforcement Is Expanding Across Arizona

The Three Points proposal comes as federal immigration enforcement has increased substantially since the beginning of the second Trump administration.

According to data cited by AZPM from the Deportation Data Project, Arizona recorded 11,671 immigration arrests during roughly the 13 months following President Donald Trump’s second inauguration on January 20, 2025.

That worked out to approximately 898 arrests per month, compared with about 414 per month during a comparable period under the Biden administration—an increase of roughly 117%.

The proposed station is also part of a broader pattern of infrastructure expansion in Southern Arizona. CBP is separately planning an expansion of a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 19 south of Tucson.

Southern Arizona Border Projects

Project	Location	Current Status
Three Points Border Patrol Station	Near State Route 86	Environmental assessment and scoping
I-19 Checkpoint Expansion	South of Tucson	Expansion planned
Tucson Sector Operations	Southern Arizona	Additional federal enforcement infrastructure

Supporters See a Needed Enforcement Investment

For supporters of stronger border enforcement, the proposed station represents a practical investment in the personnel and facilities needed to maintain a sustained presence in a challenging part of Arizona.

A permanent facility can provide Border Patrol with additional space for agents and operational resources while reducing reliance on smaller or temporary facilities.

The proposal also reflects a broader argument made by border-security advocates: enforcement policy is difficult to sustain without the physical infrastructure needed to support agents working in remote areas.

At the same time, the precise size of the station’s workforce, construction cost and timeline have not yet been finalized. CBP had not provided those details in the reporting available when the proposal was disclosed.

Environmental and Community Concerns

The project is already attracting opposition from some local officials and environmental and civil-liberties organizations.

Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Jen Allen said she was concerned about the possibility of a new Border Patrol station near Tucson, particularly if the facility includes a holding area. Environmental advocates have also raised questions about the project’s potential effects on water use, lighting, helicopter activity, wildlife and the surrounding Sonoran Desert.

Those concerns will be part of the environmental review process.

The debate is therefore likely to extend beyond the question of border security. It will also involve land use, environmental impacts, government oversight and the role of federal immigration enforcement in communities near the border.

What Happens Next?

The immediate next step is the preparation of CBP’s Environmental Assessment.

Once a draft assessment is released, the public will have an opportunity to review the proposal and submit comments. The agency will then have to consider those environmental and community concerns as the project moves through the federal review process.

For now, the most significant fact is that CBP is moving ahead with planning for an approximately 87-acre Border Patrol station near Three Points.

Whether the project ultimately becomes a major new operational base will depend on the environmental review, public input, federal approvals, funding and the final design of the facility.

But the proposal is another clear indication that border infrastructure remains a major federal priority in Southern Arizona.

The Bottom Line

The planned Three Points station would give Border Patrol a substantially larger footprint near Tucson at a time when immigration enforcement has intensified nationwide.

For supporters, it is an investment in agents and operational capacity. For critics, it raises questions about environmental effects, public oversight and the expanding federal enforcement presence.

The next major milestone will be the release of CBP’s draft Environmental Assessment, which should provide a clearer picture of what the proposed facility would actually include and how it could affect the surrounding area.

This article is based on publicly reported information and available federal planning documents. Project details may change as the environmental review and public-comment process proceeds.