The management transition at the Camp East Montana detention center is completed, ICE officials said.
Acting ICE director Todd Lyons said that Amentum Services completes the management transition on April 17. Lyons, who has announced he will be resigning, made his comments during the House Appropriations Committee hearing on April 16.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, who serves on the committee, requested both the new contract with Amentum Services and the original contract with Acquisitions Logistics LLC for the $1.2 billion construction and management of the site. Lyons responded that his office is working to provide both contracts.
It is unclear if Amentum Services has any experience operating an ICE immigration detention site.
The company is based in Chantilly, Virginia. The private contractor took over management of the massive immigration detention site from Acquisitions Logistics, which had its contract terminated immediately after extensive controversy, including the death of Geraldo Campos Lunas, a 55-year-old Cuban immigrant whose Jan. 3 death was ruled a homicide.
Escobar welcomed the change in management of the privately-run ICE detention center.
“I have been sounding the alarm about that facility and that contractor for some time now,” Escobar told Lyons. “I am glad that Acquisition Logistics will no longer be the contractor going forward. We are hoping to continue our oversight, our work on oversight as the new contractor situates itself.”
The El Paso Times first reported the new contract for Amentum Services on March 11. But the official contract to manage the site was granted on March 13, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
The ICE spokesperson praised Amentum’s experience.
“Amentum has been a close partner with ICE in managing Camp East Montana, and was best suited to take over as the prime government contractor for this facility,” an ICE spokesperson said. “Amentum’s size, maturity and pedigree make them the right partner at the right time and we will work closely with them in their implementation of higher standards of medical care, more thorough case processing and intake procedures, and delivery of performance requirements according to well-defined accountability measures.”
The sprawling detention center held 3,813 people, according to data made public by the Deportation Data Project and Detentions Reports. There were 954 on April 1, but currently the site holds 715 detainees, according to Escobar’s office.
Camp East Montana is the largest ICE detention center in the United States, holding up to 5,000 detainees.
What is Amentum Services?
According to Amentum Services’ corporate profile, the global engineering and technology services contractor is the second-largest government services contractor in the U.S. as of March 2026. The company has a long history of federal government contract services.
The company reported estimated revenue of $3.24 billion and operates in over 70 countries, with a workforce of about 50,000 employees as of Jan. 22.
The company works specifically in advanced engineering, project management, environmental services such as PFAS remediation, nuclear and energy solutions and IT/digital infrastructure.
In March 2026, an Amentum-led joint venture was awarded a $112 million framework contract by the European Commission Joint Research Centre. They also secured a position on a $999 million U.S. Navy contract for demolition and environmental restoration projects.
Under current CEO John Heller, the company announced in February that it would move its global headquarters to Reston, Virginia, in early 2027.
Alleged abuses, inhumane conditions at Camp East Montana
Amentum Services is taking over a detention center that has been thrust into the public eye following repeated documentation of abuse and negligence. Escobar and other congressional representatives have raised concerns with conditions at Camp East Montana since the facility first opened in August 2025, leading to repeated calls for the site to be closed.
Former detainees held at Camp East Montana detailed consistent abuses by guards in interviews with the El Paso Times. They reported being called “donkeys,” being told to shut up and threats against detainees’ loved ones.
They also described unsanitary conditions, inedible food that was often half-frozen or rotten, and claimed that medical attention was almost non-existent unless one was “nearly dying.” The detainees also said the facility was rarely cleaned.
The lack of sanitary conditions has led to a mental health crisis within the detention center, where some detainees have been held for up to four to five months.
The El Paso Times also reported nearly 90 emergency 911 calls coming from the center in the first 15 weeks of operation, detailing regular medical emergencies and suicide attempts.
The American Civil Liberties Union published a scathing report detailing rampant acts of physical violence against detainees and attempts to force detainees to self-deport. The abuses they faced inside Camp East Montana before their deportations echoed in interviews done by the ACLU.
Escobar raised her concerns to DHS about Francisco Gaspar Cristóbal Andrés allegedly dying from medical neglect. Cristóbal Andrés was the first detainee to die at the center in December 2025. The El Paso Times detailed how Cristóbal Andrés’ widow, who was also held at the camp, survived, but he died while in ICE custody at an El Paso hospital.
An internal ICE investigation also found 49 violations at the site under the management of Acquisition Logistics.
Among the violations of detention policies and operational procedures found were 22 deficiencies related to “use of force and restraints,” 11 issues related to “facility security and control,” and five related to “medical care.” The report also lists two deficiencies in “sexual abuse and assault prevention and intervention,” four deficiencies related to the “grievance system” and one related to telephone access.
The internal ICE report also states that at least one detainee escaped from the facility.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@usatodayco.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Camp East Montana under new management, ICE director tells US Rep. Escobar
Reporting by Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
