In
Cameron County, Los Fresnos is between
Harlingen and
Brownsville toward
Port Isabel on Hwy 100 near Bahia Grande and the Gulf of Mexico.
Los Fresnos is part of the Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, Texas metro area.
In the late 1980s Los Fresnos received some notoriety as a result of the Immigration and Naturalization Service Los Fresnos Processing Center, located outside the city. El Corraln ('the Corral'), was used to house undocumented aliens seeking work visas or political asylum. The center was often overcrowded and posed many problems for area residents as well as detainees.
In 1990 Los Fresnos was surrounded by three colonias. The population was estimated as 2,473, and there were no businesses in the area.