For nearly a century, the adobe-colored buildings of the Federal Correctional Institution at La Tuna have stood watch over Interstate 10 between Las Cruces and El Paso. To generations of residents across southern New Mexico and far west Texas, the prison has been more than a correctional facility—it has been a landmark, a point of reference, and a fixture in conversations about crime, punishment and public safety.
That chapter is now coming to an end.
Unlike the concrete and razor-wire image many Americans associate with prisons, La Tuna presented a markedly different face to the thousands of motorists who traveled Interstate 10 each day. Its white stucco walls, arcaded entrance and Mission-style bell tower resembled a historic Southwestern civic building more than a penitentiary, making it one of the most recognizable roadside landmarks between Las Cruces and El Paso.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons announced this week that it will permanently close the Federal Correctional Institution at La Tuna, along with its Federal Satellite Low facility and satellite camp, as part of a nationwide effort to address more than $4 billion in deferred maintenance and ongoing staffing shortages. The announcement also includes a reduction in force affecting staff at the Anthony-area institution.
La Tuna first opened on May 1, 1932, during the expansion of the federal prison system in the early years of the Great Depression. Designed by El Paso architect Gustavus Trost in the Spanish Mission style, the institution reflected the architectural character of the Southwest, blending into the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert rather than adopting the fortress-like appearance common to many prisons of its era. (Texas State Historical Association)…