Camp East Montana

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Camp East Montana is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility located at Fort Bliss, Texas. The camp is a tent encampment, reported to be run by a company called Acquisition Logistics LLC, with a contract value of around $1.2 billion. [1] [2] The facility has a planned capacity of up to 5,000 detainees. [3] The ACLU has described it as the largest internment facility in the United States. [4]

Contents

Camp East Montana was opened on 17 August 2025. During its first 50 days, conditions at the camp violated at least 60 federal standards, according to ICE's own detention oversight unit. [5] The ACLU and other human-rights organizations called for its closure after interviewed detainees reported "physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect, and intimidation to self-deport". [6] [7] [8]

Two inmates have reported having their testicles crushed by guards as a form of punishment. [9]

As of January 2026, three detainees have died there in a period of 44 days. [10] An autopsy ruled the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos as a homicide caused by asphyxia. ICE officials stated that his death was a suicide while in solitary confinement, but witnesses told press that he had been handcuffed and choked by guards before his death. [11] [12] Individuals attempting to visit detainees from Minneapolis, where Lunas Campos had been detained, were told those inmates were no longer allowed to have visitors. [13]

Public reactions

Spanish-language outlets such as La Nación , [14] Univision [15] and El Tiempo ; [16] had dubbed Camp East Montana the “Alligator Alcatraz of Texas” after comparisons were made to how poorly the facility was designed, reporting that the facility had broken bathrooms as well as poor food and medicine supply systems, in addition to the fact that it had been put into operation while it was still under construction.

In January 2026, a coalition of immigrant rights organizations in New Mexico and Texas, including Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Contigo Immigrant Justice, Estrella del Paso, and the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), issued a statement calling for the closure of the facilities after multiple incidents involving the deaths of Latinos in the camp and DHS violations of basic procedures for treating people. [17] [18]

References

  1. ↑ Goodman, Joshua (2025-08-28). "Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert". PBS News. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  2. ↑ Spicer, Honora (2025-11-20). "Profiting in Nowhereland". Boston Review. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  3. ↑ Jaime, Kristian. "ICE detention facility at Fort Bliss opens Aug. 17 under Trump-era executive order". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
  4. ↑ Gassama, Haddy (2025-12-08). "Immigrants Detained at Fort Bliss in Texas Report Abuse and Inhumane Conditions". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  5. ↑ MacMillan, Douglas. "60 violations in 50 days: Inside ICE's giant tent facility at Ft. Bliss". Washington Post. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
  6. ↑ "Detained Immigrants Detail Physical Abuse and Inhumane Conditions at Largest Immigration Detention Center in the U.S." ACLU. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
  7. ↑ Abbott, Jeff (19 December 2025). "Exclusive: She survived ICE custody; her husband died during detention". El Paso Times. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  8. ↑ Abbott, Jeff (20 December 2025). "Exclusive: 911 calls from migrant detention center highlight dire conditions". El Paso Times. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  9. ↑ Figueroa, Lorena (2025-12-09). "Officers at Texas immigration detention facility accused of beatings and sexual abuse". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  10. ↑ "Third immigrant detainee at facility in El Paso has died, ICE says". NBC News. 2026-01-19. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  11. ↑ Biesecker, Michael; Foley, Ryan (2026-01-22). "Autopsy finds Cuban immigrant in ICE custody died of homicide due to asphyxia". AP News. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  12. ↑ Canon, Gabrielle (2026-01-16). "Death of man at ICE camp could be investigated as homicide after examiner's report". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  13. ↑ Moore, Robert; Ramirez, Cindy (18 January 2026). "Minnesota detainees denied visitors at Fort Bliss following 3rd death at ICE facility". El Paso Matters. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  14. ↑ "Así es el "Alligator Alcatraz" de Texas: Camp East Montana, el centro del ICE donde murieron tres migrantes bajo custodia". LA NACION (in Spanish). 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  15. ↑ "Así es el Camp East Montana, en Fort Bliss, donde han muerto 3 inmigrantes y organizaciones exigen su cierre | N+ Univision Mundo | Univision". www.univision.com (in Spanish). 2026-01-19. Retrieved 2026-01-25. El Camp East Montana ha sido comparado con 'Alligator Alcatraz'
  16. ↑ Guevara, Laura Juliana Castellanos (2025-08-21). "Así es Camp East Montana, el nuevo centro de detención de migrantes más grande de EE. UU.: carpas sin aislamiento térmico en temperaturas de 40 grados". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  17. ↑ "Groups demand immediate closure of Camp East Montana following 3rd in-custody death". BorderReport. 2026-01-20. Archived from the original on 2026-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-25.
  18. ↑ "Human Rights Groups Urge ICE to End Immigration Detention at Fort Bliss Military Base, Halt Abusive Third-Country Deportations". NMILC. Retrieved 2026-01-25.

31°48′43″N106°17′53″W / 31.8119°N 106.2981°W / 31.8119; -106.2981


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