Civil rights groups are suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of four detainees held at Camp East Montana over “horrific” human rights abuses.
The lawsuit naming the massive immigration detention center in El Paso 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.
“Camp East Montana has had far too many dangerous and deadly consequences,” Rochelle Garza, the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in the news statement announcing the lawsuit. “This lawsuit seeks accountability and justice for those whose lives have been lost and detainees who have been subjected to outrageous conditions, complete lack of medical care, and stripped of their dignity without a second thought.
“For our clients and their loved ones, the Texas Civil Rights Project and our partners are working to hold the federal government and those behind Camp East Montana accountable for their negligence and harm.”
Cynthia Castillo, partner at Farella Braun + Martel LLP, said all individuals, “regardless of immigration status, deserves to be treated with basic human dignity
“We firmly believe in upholding the rule of law and the Constitution, and we are honored to have this opportunity to support the rights of those detained at Camp East Montana.”
The plaintiffs detail in their lawsuit issues related to severe medical neglect during a measles outbreak, violent use of force against detainees by guards, the use of solitary confinement to punish people, rancid food, dangerous and unsanitary conditions and exposure to dust resulting in respiratory diseases.
“I have lived through the worst days and months of my life here in ICE detention at Ft. Bliss in El Paso,” Erik Ivan Rodriguez, a named plaintiff in the lawsuit, said according to the news release. “This lawsuit is very important to me and to all the people who are detained here and suffering. There are many good people here who were just looking for a better future. I had to leave my family and country behind because the government was so bad. Sometimes, sadly, I think that these people in power in this country are just as bad.”
Detainees fear they could die in the detention center, said Navdeep, another named plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“People detained here at Camp East Montana deserve humane treatment,” said Navdeep. “It feels like we are just political pawns taken from our jobs and families and forced into a temporary tent that is not designed for human life. We could die here, and it feels like no one here would care.”
Abuses, inhumane conditions at Camp East Montana
Camp East Montana is the largest immigration detention center in the United States, with capacity to hold 5,000 detainees. The site has been plagued by accusations of abuses since it opened on Fort Bliss in August 2025.
Amentum Services took over management of the $1.2 billion detention center from Acquisitions Logistics in April 2026. The previous company had its contract canceled after numerous reports of violations and mismanagement. An internal ICE investigation found 49 violations at the site under the management of Acquisition Logistics.
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.
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 previously published a scathing report detailing rampant acts of physical violence against detainees and attempts to force detainees to self-deport.
U.S. representatives, including Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, Angie Craig, DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party)-Prior Lake, and other political leaders, have also voiced deep concerns about the conditions at the detention center following more than a dozen oversight visits. Congressional representatives have repeatedly raised concerns over detainees’ access to medical and mental health services.
These concerns grew after three detainees held at the facility died in the course of almost two months.
Escobar has raised her concerns to DHS about the death of Francisco Gaspar Cristóbal Andrés, who she alleges died from medical neglect. Cristóbal Andrés was the first detainee to die. 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.
The death of Geraldo Lunas Campos generated further concern for advocates and observers after his death was determined to be a homicide by the Office of the Medical Examiner of El Paso. The lawsuit also reports a fourth man held at Camp East Montana who died A fourth man who died shortly after being released because of being denied the chemotherapy that he needed to treat his cancer.
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: Rights groups file lawsuit against ICE for violations at Camp East Montana
Reporting by Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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