The Defense Department has begun construction on what officials claim will be the largest detention center for detained migrants in the United States.

Fort Bliss will have an "initial operating capacity" of a thousand detainees within weeks, Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson said.

President Donald Trump's administration is aiming to construct the largest federal migrant detention facility in the United States on a military base in Texas, the Pentagon said on Thursday, the latest move to use military resources to make good on his immigration agenda.