EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – For most Borderland residents, Tornillo is a place they zoom past on their way to or coming home on a trip farther east into Texas and beyond.
Let’s take a closer look.
Tornillo is about 45 minutes southeast of El Paso.
The town was first established in 1909 and got a post office that same year. It is known for being an agricultural town that grows cotton and pecans.
Most of Tornillo is served by the Tornillo Independent School District, which has four schools including an early college high school.
The town gained some national notoriety in 2018, during the Trump Administration, when a tent city detention camp for migrant children was established there.
The town is located along the border and its port of entry with Guadalupe, Mexico, was renamed in honor of Marcelino Serna, an immigrant from Mexico who became an American hero in World War I.
