Human Rights Groups Allege Systemic Abuse at Camp East Montana

A joint 84-page report by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union characterizes Camp East Montana, the largest U.S. immigrant detention facility located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, as a human rights disaster. Based on interviews with 71 detainees, the report alleges that approximately 90% of participants witnessed or experienced physical assaults by masked guards, who reportedly used beatings as collective punishment. Detainees also described living in filth within windowless canvas tents, receiving spoiled food, and facing life-threatening medical neglect.

These allegations follow investigative reporting and government audits highlighting severe mismanagement. The Government Accountability Office found that the Department of Homeland Security violated its own policies by failing to inspect the facility before opening and wasted millions of dollars. Internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reviews identified 49 deficiencies and dozens of national standard violations, leading to a contractor change in March 2026. Most notably, a January 2026 death of detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos was ruled a homicide by the El Paso Medical Examiner's Office, contradicting initial government claims of suicide.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security dismissed the reports of inhumane conditions as "categorically false," asserting that the facility is being upgraded under new management. However, human rights advocates and U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar, who described the conditions as inhumane, continue to call for the facility's closure and independent investigations into deaths in custody. The controversy unfolds as the Trump administration expands mass detention, with the population growing from 39,000 in January 2025 to over 60,000.