Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Tornillo Tornillo, TX

Tornillo is an unincorporated border community and census-designated place in El Paso County, Texas, about 35 miles southeast of El Paso on State Highway 20 and the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Tornillo takes its name from the Spanish word for the screwbean mesquite bush, a hardy firewood plant once prevalent in the area.

Tornillo was platted in 1909 by the Tornillo Townsite Company, a group of El Paso businessmen speculating that Rio Grande valley lands would be developed for irrigated agriculture, and its first post office opened the same year.

After the Elephant Butte Dam was completed in 1916, Tornillo became the center of a rich irrigated farming district; large-scale cotton production began in 1918, and by 1970 pecans had also become a major crop.

Tornillo is connected to Guadalupe, Chihuahua, Mexico, by the Tornillo-Guadalupe International Bridge at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry.

Tornillo had a population of 1,432 at the 2020 census, living in 337 households, and about 97.6 percent of its residents identified as Hispanic or Latino.

In June 2018 the federal government opened a tent city camp for migrant children at Tornillo's port of entry, drawing national attention to the small community; the last child was moved out on January 11, 2019.

Tornillo has a hot desert climate, averaging only about 8 to 9 inches of rain a year, with average high temperatures near 98 degrees in June.

Almost all of Tornillo is served by the Tornillo Independent School District, which has operated as an independent district since 1960.

Tornillo is home to Sonic Ranch, a well-known residential recording studio complex that draws major recording artists to the El Paso border valley.