A new report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union details the degrading and cruel conditions in ICE’s massive detention center known as Camp East Montana in El Paso.
“Human Rights Watch and the ACLU found that people detained at Camp East Montana endured conditions of confinement that amounted to enforced disappearance, cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment, excessive use of force including one extrajudicial killing, life-threatening medical neglect, barriers to legal representation, and coercive third-country removals,” the authors reported. “Together, these abuses violate fundamental protections under U.S. and international human rights law.”
Detainees detailed to researchers that were being beaten by guards, consistent denial of medical care and being prevented from contacting family members and lawyers. They also described overcrowding, unsanitary bathrooms, the lack of basic soap and hand sanitizers and living quarters that regularly flooded with dirty water and dust.
The authors of the report interviewed 80 people, including 71 detainees that were held at Camp East Montana, family members of former detainees, and El Paso based lawyers and advocates.
Human Rights Watch and the ACLU recommended that the Trump administration close the detention center on Fort Bliss and to ensure accountability and oversight of Camp East Montana. And to take actions to prevent further harm and abuse in the site.
The report comes just ahead of the first anniversary of the opening of the detention center. The year has been marked by lawsuits, deaths and accusations of fraud from Congress.
The immigration detention center first opened on Aug. 1, 2025, six months after the Trump administration announced plans to build a detention center that could hold 5,000 detainees on the Army post. The detention center didn’t start receiving detainees until weeks later, officially opening on Aug. 17.
Camp East Montana is the largest detention center in the United States. Three detainees have died while in custody at the sprawling tent detention center.
Acquisitions Logistics was granted a $1.2 billion dollar contact to build and manage the detention center by the Department of Defense. But Amentum Services took over management of the site in April 2026 after the previous company had the contract canceled over numerous reports of violations and mismanagement.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, has made nine different oversight visits to the detention center. She has expressed her concerns about the facility, especially the lack of medical care and the unsanitary conditions.
These concerns have been echoed by other members of Congress who have carried out oversight visits of the detention center.
Fluctuating detention numbers
The population of the detention center has fluctuated greatly since it opened.
At its height, around 3,800 immigrants were detained in the detention center during ICE’s operation Metro Surge in January 2026, according to ICE data compiled the Detention Reports. But the number of detainees declined to just over 700 detainees in April 2026 following two measles outbreaks and two tuberculosis cases.
As of July 9, the detention center held roughly 1,660 people. The increase comes as the New York Times reports that the Trump administration has again increased immigration enforcement operations across the country, detaining 10,000 immigrants in a week.
Scathing reports of dire conditions
The privately run detention center has been plagued by reports of mismanagement and abuses since it opened. At least five reports have been published by both internal government watchdogs and civil rights groups since August 2025.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report detailing examples of waste at the detention center. Among the findings, the GAO report found that ICE opened the detention center without meeting key standards and with little oversight. The report cited an instance when the contractor was charging ICE for 5,000 meals even through no detainees were yet being held there.
The report also found that the previous contractor did not provide a cause-of-death report related to the Jan. 3 homicide of detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos. Evidence in the case also was either missing or destroyed.
An internal ICE investigation found 49 violations at the site under the management of Acquisition Logistics. The ACLU also previously published another scathing report detailing rampant acts of physical violence against detainees and attempts to force detainees to self-deport.
Former detainees held at Camp East Montana detailed consistent abuses by guards in interviews with the El Paso Times, echoing the allegations raised in the lawsuit. 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.
There have been nearly 245 emergency 911 calls from Camp East Montana detailing regular medical emergencies, suicide attempts and three overdoses, according to 911 call-logs obtained by the El Paso Times, as of July 4. The El Paso Times previously reported nearly 90 emergency 911 calls coming from the center in the first 15 weeks of operation.
Lawsuit against ICE for ‘horrific’ abuses
ICE is currently being sued on behalf of four detainees held at Camp East Montana over “horrific” human rights abuses.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday, May 29, by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, Texas Civil Rights Project, Human Rights Watch and the law firm Farella Braun + Martel LLP.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and it looks for redress for First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act violations.
Federal judge Leon Schydlower, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, will hear the case.
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: Human Rights Watch report finds ‘degrading and cruel’ conditions in ICE detention
Reporting by Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
